Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came through with his promise to free 250 terrorists and grant amnesty to almost 200 more, without U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice even having to set foot in the region.

 

In anticipation of her visit originally scheduled for this week, Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas hastily agreed to meet Monday, resuming their regular get-togethers that periodically were cancelled in deference to PA terrorism.

 

The meeting between Olmert and Abbas, slated to take place Monday in Jerusalem, is still on the schedule. But the visit by the American Secretary of State has been postponed.

 

The State Department announced late last week that Rice would delay her visit to Middle East until the end of the month, when she is expected to arrive with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. 

 

The move to include Blair, the new Middle East envoy of the Quartet of nations that includes the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, indicates strong support for the former British leader in his new post.

 

Rice is now scheduled to meet with Blair in Lisbon later in the week to map out the latest strategy in trying to bring peace to the Middle East. The Quartet's meeting in Portugal was originally scheduled for Jerusalem.

 

Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdullah II is also reportedly being groomed to take on a more pro-active role in shepherding the talks between Israel and the PA.

 

Olmert met secretly with the Hashemite monarch in Amman last week to discuss current developments in the area, as well as strategies for the future.

 

Blair also plans to keep Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the loop, with visits to Riyadh and Cairo as part of his tour of the region.