Bush to reaffirm vision for a Palestinian state

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) President George W. Bush will reaffirm his vision of a Palestinian state at peace with Israel today as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair this week assumes the role of envoy for the Quartet of West Asia mediators.

Bush will reassert his commitment to a two-state solution and address what the United States can do to bolster support for the Fatah-led government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a senior White House official said on Sunday television news programs.

"He will have some ideas to suggest about what we are going to do to support them financially, diplomatically," national security advisor Stephen Hadley said on ABC's "This Week." "The president sees there is an opportunity there now to show the Palestinian people a choice between the kind of violence and chaos under Hamas Islamists in Gaza and the prospect, under President Abbas and Prime Minister (Salam) Fayyad for an effective democratic state," Hadley said.

Bush would also speak about what was expected of Blair as the new envoy for the Quartet, comprised of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, he said.

Bush was scheduled to make remarks on Israeli-Palestinian issues at 1:15 pm EDT (2240 IST).

The Quartet will convene in Lisbon on Thursday at what will be the group's first meeting since naming Blair its envoy to spearhead talks between Israel, the Palestinians and Arab states. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend the Lisbon meeting.

The Quartet's meeting will be its first since Hamas captured Gaza from Abbas' Fatah movement in June, effectively dividing the Palestinians between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.

Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged last month to work together to strengthen Abbas against Hamas Islamists. The United States, Israel and the EU regard Hamas as a terrorist group.

Fatah backs a negotiated peace with the Jewish state Reuters SW PM1114>