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Source: https://www.ft.com/content/3f6cdc81-f286-4424-b80d-2355c8316b29
Tony Blair Dropped from Trump's Gaza Peace Board after Complaints from Arab States
(Financial Times-UK) Andrew England - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been dropped from consideration for Donald Trump's "board of peace" in Gaza, following objections from several Arab and Muslim states, which cited his staunch support for the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. A source said the board "will be made up of serving world leaders and there will be a smaller executive board under that." Blair, as a former prime minister, did not qualify for the board, but is expected to sit on the executive committee alongside Trump advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Blair, who served as a Middle East envoy after leaving Downing Street in 2007, had been working on Gaza plans for more than a year, using his Tony Blair Institute to formulate his ideas. "He could still have a role in a different capacity and that seems likely," another source said. "The Americans like him and the Israelis like him." The executive committee is to be headed by former UN envoy and Bulgarian defense minister Nickolay Mladenov.