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| Blair set to become Middle East envoy |  |  |  |
| Europe |
| Written by Chris Perver |
| Monday, 25 June 2007 06:03 |
| I spotted this news coming through on the email, but my friend Jim beat me to it. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has accepted the role of Middle East envoy, proposed by US President George Bush, and backed by the Quartet (EU, US, UN, Russia). Tony Blair will join the Quartet in Jerusalem tomorrow morning for a specially convened meeting, during which his new role will be publicly announced. He will replace the group's previous envoy, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, who stepped down from the post in April of last year. As in my own commentary on Blair's new role, not everyone will be happy about his nomination for Special Envoy. Some feel he may have alienated Islamic countries too much through his support for the war in Iraq, and may be perceived as too close to the United States to be able to negotiate a settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Opposition also came from some other prominent places... Quote: "The EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana was opposed to the move, because it would detract from his efforts in the Middle East, the newspaper said. It will be interesting to see what transpires over the next few months, with Javier Solana set to become High Representative for European Foreign Policy in 2009, Tony Blair taking up his new role in the Middle East, and the US aiming for a peace agreement in the Middle East by the end of 2008. In any case, two Europeans are at the centre of affairs in the Middle East peace process, in accordance with Daniel's prophecy. Source EJPress |
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