A spokesman from the Palestinian government led by President Mahmoud Abbas welcomes Tony Blair's upcoming arrival in the Middle East as a Quartet envoy, while a Hamas spokesman says he expects Blair to fail in his efforts to lay groundwork for a peace process. A spokesman from the Israeli Foreign Ministry says Blair has a unique role to play. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair begins his first visit to Jerusalem as international envoy on Monday (July 23), hoping to help end 60 years of peacemaking failures since Britain handed Palestine to a Jewish state and Arabs who refused to accept it. He has been asked by the Quartet powers -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia to present by September an initial plan for building up institutions that can finally establish a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. That role, which he will discuss with Israel and Palestinian leaders on a short visit of barely 24 hours, may expand into more direct involvement in...