Blair starts his Middle Eastern role by saying very little.

Blair made his first public statements yesterday since accepting his new role as the international community's Middle East envoy.

He used his first meeting with the international Quartet ­ the US, EU, UN and Russia ­ who he will represent in the region, to restate his commitment to a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel.

Mr Blair, who will make a preliminary visit to Israel and the West Bank next week, declared in Lisbon: "I hope I can offer something in bringing about a solution to this issue that is of such fundamental importance to the world.

"I hope I can create the conditions under which this two-state solution can become a reality... This is an issue I have been passionate about for many years."

He was speaking after the Quartet committed itself to backing last Monday's declaration by President George Bush to advance a peace process by calling an international conference this autumn on the region.

While Mr Bush strongly denounced Hamas's seizure of control in Gaza after last month's bloody infighting in the Strip, the Quartet pledged not to ignore the residents.

From the reports that I've read I can find no comment from Blair regarding Hamas and whether or not he intends to engage with them. However, I notice that Condi Rice has been quick to get her tuppence worth in:

"Hamas, I think, knows what is expected for international respectability," said Ms Rice, alluding to demands that it recognise Israel, end violence and accept existing peace agreements.

Mr Blair was warmly endorsed by Ms Rice, though there was no sign of agreement to expand his limited terms of reference. "This is a very skilled, respected, historic figure ... who is absolutely dedicated to democracy, to building a better Middle East," she said, making clear that his role was "complementary".

So Rice is marginalising him already, making clear that he is "complimentary" to the fantastic job she has been doing ensuring that there is no progress at all towards the fulfilment of the moribund road map.

Reaction to Blair's appointment has been toxic in the Middle East, where his role as Bush's sidekick in the war in Iraq and as the man who refused - against all common sense and decency - to call for a ceasefire as Israel bombarded Beirut, has marked him as blatantly pro-Israeli. The very reason why Israel and the US have chosen him for this job.

Israel is delighted he is getting involved but Arab reactions range from sceptical to openly hostile. "George Bush wanted to reward Blair for his hostility to the Arabs," said Galal Nassar in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly. "In backing Bush's nominee the Quartet has endorsed a disastrous choice." Columnist Rami Khouri wrote in Beirut's Daily Star: "If there is an award for the combined negative credibility of an institution plus an individual, the Quartet and Blair should be its first recipients. Appointing Tony Blair as special envoy for Arab-Israeli peace is something like appointing the Emperor Nero to be the chief fireman of Rome."

Before the Iraq war it was known that Colin Powell, although publicly holding his tongue, was thought to be privately against the intervention. On that occasion Blair sided with the hawks and backed the invasion - a decision which he refuses to admit was a wrong call.

Now, once again, Powell is arguing for a stance which goes against the one proposed by the hawks.

Mr Blair's remarks came after the former US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday broke with Washington orthodoxy by suggesting that the international Middle East Quartet should have contacts with Hamas.

But Mr Powell said in a radio interview: "I don't think you can just cast them into outer darkness and try to find a solution to the problems of the region without taking to account the standing that Hamas has in the Palestinian community"

He added: "They won an election that we insisted upon having. And so, as unpleasant a group they may be and as distasteful as I find some of their positions, I think through some means, the Middle East Quartet... or through some means Hamas has to be engaged."

Blair led a government that said it needed "more Colin Powell and less Donald Rumsfeld". He is now released from the burden of representing his nation and is fighting to remove the word "Iraq" from his tombstone. He would do well this time to listen to Powell rather than to the tired rhetoric of Rice.

There can be no peace process without the involvement of Hamas. The Palestinian people elected them as their representatives. The Israeli/US plan of negotiating with Abbas on his own is suicidal. They are planning on negotiating with the person whose party was democratically defeated. And, indeed, they intend to do so because they believe that he will agree to things that Hamas will not.

As I say, this is a suicidal policy. Israel and the US may get Abbas to give them things that Hamas will not, but any deal struck will be meaningless as they are negotiating with the monkey rather than the organ grinder.

Eighty-eight British MPs have signed an Early Day Motion after Hamas secured the release of the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, saying that international support for Mr Abbas should not preclude talks with Hamas.

Blair would do well to listen to Powell and his eighty eight former colleagues. However, early signals are not good as Blair is reportedly seeking an office in Jerusalem. Why Jerusalem? The capitol of Israel is Tel Aviv. Surely even Blair knows the dangerous signal he is sending by placing his office in the city which Israel claims to be it's capitol, a claim that even Washington have been slow to acknowledge?

His success in Northern Ireland is the only thing that gives me any faith that even someone as blatantly pro-Israeli as Blair might eventually - if he is realistic about achieving a peaceful settlement - realise that this can never be done without the involvement of ALL the players in this dispute.

Blair's comments remain vague. I can only hope that this vagueness is a tactical move. Time will tell.

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Tags: Blair, Israel, Palestine, middle east peace, Bush, US, Conaleezza Rice, Colin Powell