Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair will hold talks in Riyadh with King Abdullah centred on a US drive to persuade Arabs to attend a conference next week on Israeli-Palestinian peace, government sources said on Wednesday.
US President George W. Bush spoke to the Saudi monarch by telephone on Tuesday to invite him formally to attend the summit at Annapolis, Maryland on November 27. Blair arrived in the Saudi capital on Wednesday from Egypt.
Israel has said it will release Palestinian prisoners and halt some settlement building in Palestinian territories seized by Israel in 1967 as part of the effort to get Arabs, particularly Saudi Arabia, to turn up. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal has said the kingdom will attend if there is an agenda that deals clearly with core issues involved in setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Blair, the former British prime minister, is the diplomatic liaison between the 'Quartet' of peace players - United States, Russia, European Union and United Nations - and Israel, the Palestinians and Arab countries. Saudi media said he was met at Riyadh airport by intelligence chief Prince Mugrin bin Abdul-Aziz, and a government source said he would have talks with King Abdullah. Blair came from Egypt where he met President Hosni Mubarak.