[New York Times] Helene Cooper - In his new role as envoy to the Middle East, Blair will be charged with shoring up Palestinian institutions, but not with trying to nail down a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians because Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, is handling that job herself, administration officials said Wednesday. Administration officials defined Blair's mandate as mobilizing international assistance to Mahmoud Abbas, securing financing for Palestinian institutions and governing tasks, and hashing out plans to promote Palestinian economic development. A senior Bush administration official maintained that Blair did not press American officials to allow him to take on the final status issues. Abbas welcomed the Blair appointment, while the Hamas leadership in Gaza rejected it, saying Blair had always sided with Israel and the U.S.
2007-06-28 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive