Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be named on Wednesday as Middle East peace envoy of the Quartet, or the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, local mass media reported Tuesday.

Members of the Quartet will announce the appointment insimultaneous statements from Washington, New York, Brussels and Moscow, the Associated Press quoted an unidentified official as reporting.

U.S. Deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey declined to talk about the possible appointment of Blair, but he said a meeting of Quartet representatives held earlier in the day in Jerusalem did have a discussion about the post and what its duties might be and that a statement was expected on Wednesday.

Blair declared in May that he would step down as the party leader and quit his job as Prime Minister on June 27. It was reported that U.S. President George W. Bush had discussed with Blair about taking the post of Middle East peace envoy after he leaves office.

James Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank, stepped down as the Quartet's Middle East special envoy more than a year ago.