Blair to become West Asia envoy: Media

London, June 26: The media here today claimed outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair will become the next West Asia envoy, while the four powers sponsoring West Asia peace process met today for the first time since Hamas seized Gaza.

EU envoy Marc Otte, Russia's Sergei Yakovlev, UN envoy Michael Williams, and US Assistant Secretary David Welch met at the US consulate in Jerusalem. Spokesmen were tight-lipped on the agenda of the meeting and refused to be drawn on Blair.

''They are meeting to compare notes on the latest developments, the way forward, things like that. We don't have a firm agenda,'' said UN spokesman Brenden Varma.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said ''the experience of our people with Blair was bad,'' though he offered no specifics.

Blair's appointment as Quartet envoy ''may even make things worse,'' he added.

No official press conference was scheduled after the Quartet meeting and it was also unclear if an official joint statement would be published.

Despite press speculation that Blair will become the Quartet's new special West Asia envoy, both Downing Street and the White House have downplayed the rumors.

''Not that I'm aware of,'' said Dana Perino, a spokesperson for President George W Bush, when asked about the claim by the Financial Times that Blair would be named at today's meeting in Jerusalem.

Bush has signaled his support for his staunch ally for the envoy role, said the Financial Times, although Blair's office remained tight-lipped.

UNI