Mixed welcome awaits Blair in Middle East role

The main international players in the Middle East gave a mixed response to the prospects of Tony Blair becoming the region's peace envoy.

Israeli officials said that Mr Blair would be welcome in the post, vacated more than a year ago by James Wolfensohn, the former World Bank head who quit in frustration at a lack of progress.

Palestinian officials said any serious attempt to inject new life into the stalled peace process would be welcome, but worried about Mr Blair's close ties to Washington and Israel.

Some Palestinians said that they would prefer Jacques Chirac, the former French President, or Bill Clinton for the post, while admitting that Mr Blair, in his favour, does have an intimate knowledge of the region's problems.

Envoys from the so-called quartet - the US, United Nations, European Union and Russia - met in Jerusalem to discuss ways of helping Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate Palestinian President, shore up his secular government in the West Bank, and to consider the appointment of Mr Blair.

The Prime Minister has often inspired anger in the Arab world for his role in the Iraq war and for backing Israel's attacks on Lebanese infrastructure in the month-long war last summer.

Hamas, the Islamists who seized control of the Gaza Strip earlier this month, reacted with scorn to reports of his new role, accusing the Quartet of being pro-Israel and Mr Blair of being even more so. Not all Arab responses were so negative, however. In Jordan, King Abdullah welcomed the news and said in a phone conversation with Mr Blair three days ago that he would support his mission, officials said.

"If the mandate will be real peace-making, real negotiations leading to a two-state solution, and real international involvement in pushing the peace envelope, then something positive will come out of his appointment," a Jordanian Cabinet minister told The Times.

Mr Blair was keen to stress his commitment to seeking a real solution to the intractable crisis as he prepared to leave office.

Timesonline