Mideast envoy Tony Blair in Gaza for first time

Middle East Envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) speaks to students during a visit to a United Nations school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. (AP)

Published Sunday, March 01, 2009

By AP

The office of Tony Blair says the Mideast envoy is in the Gaza Strip to discuss reconstruction efforts.

It is Blair's first visit to Gaza since he was appointed to present the Mideast peacemaking 'quartet' of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations in 2007.

He is the latest in a number of high-ranking diplomats to visit Gaza since Israel ended its offensive against the territory's Hamas rulers in mid-January.

Blair spokesman Matthew Doyle said the envoy would meet Sunday with Gaza community representatives. Blair will also attend a high-level Gaza reconstruction conference in Egypt on Monday.

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