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Secretary Clinton and Tony Blair meet ahead of Israel Palestine talks restarting

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Quartet Representative Tony Blair today in advance of Wednesday's Middle East peace negotiations.

"Secretary Clinton has begun the first of several bilateral meetings, preparatory meetings in -- you know, as we relaunch direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians," department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

"As we stand here, she is meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Later on this afternoon, she'll have meetings with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit, and then later this evening, she'll meet with Quartet representative Tony Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

The Quartet consists of United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia.

Crowley said President Barack Obama will meet with the principals Wednesday, but, "From a process standpoint it's typical that in advance of presidential bilateral meetings, the secretary of state will meet with the leaders as well, to help them understand our expectations and gain an understanding on what their expectations for the meetings are."

Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are to begin Thursday.