Blair becomes ME envoy

UNITED NATIONS: Tony Blair was named on Wednesday as the special envoy of the four major powers mediating Middle East peace shortly after stepping down as prime minister of Britain.
Blair’s new role in world politics was announced by the United Nations and United States after he ended a decade in power and was succeeded to the premiership by his former finance minister, Gordon Brown.
“Following discussions among the principals, today the quartet dealing with the Middle East is announcing the appointment of Tony Blair as the quartet’s representative,” UN spokeswoman Michele Montas told a news briefing.
Representatives of the quartet — the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States — had discussed offering Blair a mandate at talks in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Speaking before parliament for the last time as prime minister, Blair said “the absolute priority is to try to give effect to what is now the consensus across the international community that the only way of bringing stability and peace in the Middle East is a two state solution.
He said this means “a state of Israel which is secure and confident in its security, and a Palestinian state that is not merely viable in terms of its territory but in terms of its institutions and governance. “I believe it is possible to do that but it will require a huge intensity of focus and work,” added Blair, who handed over to his finance minister Gordon Brown later in the day.
Blair made no mention of the envoy job, but Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern told RTE radio that the departing British prime minister told him personally on Friday that he “was going to take it.”
And Ahern added: “He thinks, and I believe he is right, that if you have hands-on, persistent engagement you can make real progress.”
Ahern has been a key ally of Blair over his decade in power, overseeing the resumption of power-sharing in Northern Ireland in May after jointly brokering a historic reconciliation between Catholic and Protestant forces.
Ahern said Blair considered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to “the source of all the problems in the wider Middle East,” and had to be solved as part of a wider solution.
“He is going to put quite an amount of his personal time into this after today and I wish him well on that,” Ahern said.
Blair, who lost political capital after sending British troops in support of the US-led invasion of Iraq, spent his last months in office stressing that a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was a priority for him.

tunku : what can this moron deliver, what has he done when he was the pm? this man has send troops to kill hundred thousands of iraqis and afghanis.people should send him and bush after their retirements to rehabilitation centre not as special envoy.they don't deserve it.