BLAIR MORE ENVOY TO PALESTINIANS THAN PEACE NEGOTIATOR

Blair Will Be More an Envoy to the Palestinians than a Peace Envoy - Tim Butcher
Tony Blair was told by the U.S. Thursday that he had no authority to tackle political negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians as he spent his first full day as special envoy to the Middle East. Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, insisted at a meeting of the Middle East Quartet in Lisbon that America would retain leadership of the "political track" while Blair would work on raising funds for the Palestinians, as well as building their economy and infrastructure. He will be more an envoy to the Palestinians than a peace envoy. The Quartet reiterated its policy of refusing to deal with Hamas on the grounds that it is a terrorist group, instead backing Mahmoud Abbas. (Telegraph-UK)