JERUSALEM, June 26: The four sponsors of the stagnant Middle East peace process met on Tuesday for the first time since Hamas seized Gaza, amid mounting speculation that outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be anointed their new envoy.

Representatives of the Quartet -- European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States -- held talks in Jerusalem, a day after a regional summit in Egypt where the Palestinian and Israeli leaders met for the first time since April.

EU envoy Marc Otte, Russia's Sergei Yakovlev, UN envoy Michael Williams and US Assistant Secretary David Welch met for more than two hours behind closed doors at the US consulate, before driving away without comment.

The Middle East summit in Egypt on Monday aimed at bolstering moderate Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, who met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert face-to-face for the first time since Hamas seized Gaza.

The international community has thrown its weight behind Mr Abbas since Hamas militants overran his security forces in Gaza 11 days ago after gunbattles that killed more than 110 Palestinians.

Official spokesmen from the Quartet refused to be drawn on Mr Blair’s possible appointment, with UN spokesman Brenden Varma saying only that the talks would `compare notes on the latest developments’.

Britain’s Financial Times newspaper had reported that the Quartet would agree on Mr Blair as their new envoy. Mr Blair neither confirmed nor denied the report on his penultimate day in office in London, but made a point of stressing his readiness to help find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I think that anybody who cares about greater peace and stability in the world knows that a lasting and enduring resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian issue is essential,” Mr Blair told a news conference. “And I will do whatever I can to help such a resolution come about.”

“He is still Prime Minister Blair. It’s rumours at this stage,” Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin told reporters in Jerusalem.—AFP