U.S. Boosts Support For Palestinian President

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is sending a senior State Department official to run the Middle East office of Prime Minister Blair as part of new efforts to support the Palestinian Arab president, Mahmoud Abbas, the Associated Press has learned.

The deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, Robert Danin, will take up his post next week as "head of mission" for Mr. Blair, the special envoy to the Palestinian Arabs for the international diplomatic quartet on the Middle East, American officials told the AP. They spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a public announcement.

The appointment was disclosed in an internal memo sent to State Department staff yesterday as the embattled Mr. Abbas was set to arrive in Washington for talks with President Bush and Secretary of State Rice.

Mr. Danin "will lead the Blair mission's effort on the ground to support the Palestinian Authority in improving the livelihood of its people in the West Bank and Gaza," the memo from the top American diplomat for the Middle East, David Welch, said. Portions of the memo were read to the AP by an official who received it.

Mr. Danin, who has held senior State Department and White House jobs dealing with the Middle East since 2001, met late Monday with Mr. Blair who was in Washington to accept an award, officials said. He succeeds Donald Bandler, a low-key, retired American diplomat who held the job on an interim basis for less than a year.

The move comes as the administration intensifies efforts to revitalize the shattered Palestinian Arab economy and shore up Mr. Abbas, who is struggling for authority in the West Bank against the militant Hamas movement that controls Gaza, and as the administration is still hoping for some sort of peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel before Mr. Bush leaves office.

Mr. Bush will see Mr. Abbas tomorrow, a day after he has a private breakfast with King Abdullah II of Jordan.

[Also yesterday, Secretary of State Rice said the Bush administration explicitly warned President Carter against meeting with members of Hamas, the Palestinian Arab faction that controls the Gaza Strip and which is regarded by America as a terror group.]