EU seeks to bolster Middle East Quartet via Arab involvement

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By Luke Baker and Adrian Croft JERUSALEM/BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - High-level discussions are underway on increasing involvement of Arab powers to reinvigorate a four-member group overseen by Britain's Tony Blair that has been seeking to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2002. Rather than formally expanding the Middle East Quartet's membership, the idea is to have more frequent top-level meetings with at least Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt to ensure the region is more closely engaged at a time of tumultuous change, senior diplomats based in the Middle East and Europe said. Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, is expected to appoint a special envoy to the Middle East in the coming days. Officials said a first meeting of the Quartet - the United States, the EU, the United Nations and Russia - along with Arab states and perhaps the Arab League could take place in the coming weeks.

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