Blair Agrees to Assume Job As Middle East Envoy

By Barbara Slavin

WASHINGTON — Departing British Prime Minister Tony Blair has agreed to become a Middle East envoy to boost prospects for peace between Palestinians and Israel, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States Nabil Fahmy said Tuesday.

Members of the Quartet of Mideast negotiators — the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia — met Tuesday in Jerusalem and could announce the appointment as soon as today, when Blair steps down after a decade as Britain’s prime minister.

It was unclear what Blair’s exact duties would be, and negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel have been stalled for several years. Fahmy said he hopes Blair “uses the expertise he’s gained as a statesman to expedite creation of a Palestinian state.”

The Egyptian diplomat, a veteran of Arab-Israeli negotiations, said that would require Blair to “start a peace process that will give a political dividend” to embattled Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Blair is to fill a spot vacated when former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn stepped down a year ago. Wolfensohn was frustrated by the lack of progress toward Palestinian statehood and the rise of Hamas, a militant Islamic movement that won Palestinian parliamentary elections last year.

The United States and EU consider Hamas a terrorist group and refuse to negotiate with it.

The situation has become more complicated since Wolfensohn left. This month, Hamas defeated Abbas’ Fatah faction in a violent conflict and took over Gaza, an enclave of 1.5 million people. That has left Abbas in control of parts of the West Bank, where Israel maintains settlements and has deployed hundreds of troops.

“It’s the last train leaving the last station,” Ziad Asali, head of the American Task Force on Palestine, said of Blair’s appointment. Despite the difficult circumstances, Asali said Blair “brings much more to the table than Wolfensohn,” including a record of resolving the conflict in Northern Ireland and a close relationship with President Bush.

Blair is also “a very well-appreciated figure in Israel,” Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the Associated Press.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey called Blair “a distinguished individual with a world record and history of support for bringing about a peaceful resolution of the Middle East.”

Robert Malley, Middle East director for the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based organization that seeks to end conflicts, said Blair’s success would depend on whether he can talk to Hamas and not just try to shore up Abbas. Without a change in U.S. and European strategy, Malley said, “it doesn’t matter if it’s Blair or Superman.” (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.