Blair may become Middle East envoy

[maddezmom]

Source: Al Jazeera

Tony Blair could soon be appointed the Middle East Quartet's envoy, according to information obtained by Al Jazeera on Wednesday.

The British prime minister will step down on June 27 and officials from the Bush administration are understood to be in talks with him over the role.

Tim Friend, Al Jazeera's correspondent in London, said he understood there were intense negotiations between the US and London over the appointment, with the US very keen on the move.

The job of special envoy for the Quartet group of international powers - the US, Russia, the EU and the UN - has been vacant since James Wolfensohn, the former World Bank chief, left the post in April 2006.






Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ECD22DD4-79B9-40AE-8E65-EA70128C0FE6.htm

[Solly Mack]

1. snicker

[maddezmom]

3. interesting the position has been vacant for over a year

[Solly Mack]

4. how long ago did Blair announce that he would announce his retirement

this year?


7 September 2006
I will quit within a year - Blair

"But I am not going to set a precise date now. I don't think that's right. I will do that at a future date and I'll do it in the interests of the country and depending on the circumstances of the time."

[T_i_B]

2. Silly season seems to have arrived over here

As the UK press is full of rumours of a coalition with the Lib Dem's

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/20/nliblab120.xml

And rumours that DU's old friend George Galloway is to stand against Jack Straw at the next election

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2107300,00.html

These sorts of rumours are of course, all to be taken with a hefty pinchj of salt.

[acmavm]

5. Good. Get him an apartment in the heart of Baghdad.

[Bragi]

6. Why would a discredited Poodle be a credible emissary? /NT

[bullimiami]

7. he would not be of course.

but it goes with the bush/neocon strategy of putting a rabid fox in charge of every henhouse.

[maddezmom]

8. Bush eyes Blair for Mideast peace role

By TERENCE HUNT - AP White House Correspondent
=WASHINGTON --President Bush has talked with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about taking a role as a Middle East peace envoy after he leaves office next week.

The White House and State Department spoke glowingly of Blair's credentials on Wednesday but said there was nothing to announce yet. Blair steps down next Wednesday.

"Obviously Prime Minister Blair has been very active and deeply involved in Middle East peace issues throughout his prime ministership," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

She said that Blair and Bush speak often. "It would not surprise me if they have talked about what Prime Minister Blair would like to do following the end of his term ... but we don't have anything to announce today," Perino said.

Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, the State Department's top diplomat for the Middle East, is in London and met with Blair this week.

more:
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/politics/story/72735.html

[maddezmom]

9. US considering Blair for Palestine envoy

US considering Blair for Palestine envoy
06-21-2007, 05h37
WASHINGTON (AFP)

Middle East power brokers should appoint a special envoy to lay the groundwork for a Palestinian state, Washington said, amid reports Thursday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair will take up the job after he retires this month.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the appointment of a new envoy was critical amid renewed hopes to establish a Palestinian state, after Hamas' bloody takeover last week of the Gaza Strip that resulted in the establishment of a moderate Palestinian government.

The Washington Post in its Thursday edition cited unnamed US and Israeli officials as saying that the administration of President George W. Bush was laying the groundwork for Blair to be appointed as an envoy for Palestinian governance and economic issues.

"Can we identify a person that could fulfill those functions? And I think that the idea has some merit. Clearly, there needs to be some more consultations on the matter," McCormack said.

more;http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=182024

[LeftishBrit]

10. I can think of few people less suitable!!!

At least, it would get him away from here.