Blair sees "sense of possibility" in Mideast mission

JERUSALEM, July 24 (Reuters) Tony Blair today said he saw a ''sense of possibility'' in his first visit to the Middle East as an envoy of the international Quartet of peace brokers.

The former British prime minister, in his first public remarks since beginning his mission yesterday, said he intended at this stage ''to listen, to learn and to reflect'' in his talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

''I think that even from the conversations I've had there is a sense of possibility,'' Blair told a news conference after he met Israeli President Shimon Peres.

''But whether that sense of possibility can be translated into something -- that is something that needs to be worked at and thought about over time,'' he said.

Peres, a Nobel Peace laureate, said: ''I think there is a serious window of opportunity to advance peace''. But he said he feared the window would not remain open for long.

The Quartet -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- has asked Blair to present by September an initial plan for building ruling institutions needed to establish a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel.

But that limited mandate could expand later into a more direct peacemaking role between the parties, diplomats say.

Blair's mission is also complicated by a split among Palestinians in which the Islamist militant group Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular faction is in charge of the West Bank.

Reuters SV DB1348