Rice to discuss Blair's role in Middle East

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to head to the Middle East in a fresh push for peace, hoping to build on momentum created by the appointment of Tony Blair as a special envoy for the region.

Rice is scheduled to visit Israel and the West Bank during the July 16-20 trip that will include a stop in Accra, Ghana, for talks on African trade, according to the State Department. Additional stops are possible, and a formal announcement of the travel is likely on Monday.

There has been widespread speculation that Egypt would host a mid-July meeting of the international diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East, which last month named Blair to be its representative to the Palestinians.

However, the State Department would not say yesterday if such a gathering was planned.

Lower-level officials from the Quartet - the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia - are to meet next week in Britain to review events in the region and talk about the goals of Blair's mission, deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

Blair is not expected to attend the Tuesday meeting in London, which will focus on "technical details," Casey said.

Casey said he was unaware of any plans for Blair to meet with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip last month and is shunned in many quarters because of its violently anti-Israel ideology.