MIDDLE EAST:British prime minister Tony Blair's hopes of securing a Middle East peace settlement in his final days as prime minister were dealt a blow yesterday when the senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, vowed in Iran that he would never recognise Israel and would fight on until Jerusalem was liberated.
Mr Blair is due to visit Israel, the Palestinian territories and another Arab country before Christmas in pursuit of his ambition of a peace conference.
In Washington on Thursday he said he hoped to find a way of resolving the deadlock caused by the refusal of Hamas - the militant Islamic group that won this year's Palestinian elections - to recognise Israel's right to exist.
The Israelis, backed by the United States and the European Union, have refused to deal with Hamas, and all have stopped funding to the Hamas-led government.
Mr Haniyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, speaking at Friday prayers at the University of Tehran, said: "The world arrogance [ a reference to the US] and Zionists . . . want us to recognise the usurpation of the Palestinian lands and stop jihad and resistance and accept the agreements reached with the Zionist enemies in the past".
Ignoring US and British calls to recognise Israel, Mr Haniyeh said: "We will never recognise the usurper Zionist government and will continue our jihad-like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem."
The fact that he delivered his comments in Tehran, which Israel regards as its biggest threat, will further diminish the already slim chances of meaningful negotiations.
On Thursday Mr Blair and President Bush called on Hamas to accept the three principles set out by the quartet grouping on the Middle East - the United Nations, US, EU and Russia - that it should recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past Palestinian treaties. Mr Blair hinted at a compromise when he said that if Hamas would not accept the principles, he would look for a different way forward. But he stressed that recognition of Israel was non-negotiable.
Mr Blair, who also remains close to Bill Clinton, is conscious of how the former US president in his last months in office managed to bring together the Israelis and Palestinians for a summit at Camp David in 2000 that came close to securing peace.
The UK foreign office, which has been given the job of trying to fulfil Mr Blair's ambition, is privately dubious about the chances of making an impact in the prime minister's last few months in office, although the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, who recently returned from Jordan, argues that conditions are more conducive to peace than is generally believed.
However, Hanan Ashrawi, a prominent Palestinian politician and former peace negotiator, said of Mr Blair's visit: "People have learned not to raise their expectations for such events. It has been tried before repeatedly." She added: "People are rather realistic, and they are not expecting a deus ex machina to descend from London. But everybody wants to give any initiative a chance."
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, welcomed Mr Blair's visit and hoped he could break the deadlock. "He will have an impact. Nobody can force anyone, but I think people should try." The idea of a Middle East settlement received a boost this week when it was promoted by the Iraq Study Group, led by former US secretary of state James Baker. Like Mr Blair, he favours dialogue with Iran and Syria.