(AFP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday as part of efforts to revive the Mideast peace process, a presidential spokesman has said.
"Tony Blair will visit the Palestinian territories on December 18 to meet president Abbas," Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP Tuesday, reports Trend.
Ahead of the leaders' meeting, Abbas met Tuesday in his Ramallah office with British Minister for International Development Hilary Benn.
Blair is also expected to meet Israeli leaders on his tour, although no details of his schedule were made available.
Blair announced last Thursday he would head to the region as part of efforts to revive the Middle East peace process, which has been stalled for six years.
"We need to get the door unlocked, because it's kind of barred at the moment, and it needs to be opened," Blair said at a joint news conference with United States President George W. Bush.
Blair's visit was announced after a report by a top-level US panel urged Washington to up its efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to achieve its wider goals in the Middle East, including Iraq.