By NNN-KUNA,
Brussels : The official envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East ,Tony Blair has said that efforts must continue to clinch a deal to resolve the Palestine question by the end of the year or even after.
“Whatever the challenges, whatever the difficulties, we have to continue and we have to continue right up to the end of this year to try if possible to get an agreement. Whether it is this year or later, it has to be done. We don’t have an option,” he told a joint press conference with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner here Tuesday.
He said Europe has a far stronger position to play now because there is a unified European position and because Europe has strong links with Palestinians and also with Israelis.
Responding to a question on Hamas, Blair said that “for there to be a viable way for Hamas participating in negotiating a two-state solution, it is obvious that they accept the existence of both states.”
There are very difficult and important questions how we deal with Hamas in the future, said Blair, adding that at the moment it is very important to help the population in Gaza in humanitarian terms.
Kouchner, whose country holds the current EU presidency, said Blair informed the EU foreign ministers meeting here Tuesday on the current situation in the Middle East peace process.