Tony Blair has resigned from his role as an envoy for The Quartet group of Middle East mediators.
The Former UK Prime Minister is to stand down from his role as Middle East envoy representing the US, Russia, the UN and the EU.
Speaking ahead of a formal announcement, unnamed officials said Blair, who took the role just hours after leaving Downing Street in 2007, has written to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to confirm his decision.
The Independent reports:
In March, the former British Prime Minister hinted that he was preparing to stand down in a speech questioning the “efficacy” of democracy in the region.
Mr Blair’s position as representative for the Quartet on the Middle East, made up of the UN, the US, the EU and Russia, was thought to have become increasingly difficult as his relationship with senior Palestinian Authority figures deteriorated.
The announcement on Mr Blair’s resignation came as the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, a steering group for the Middle East peace talks, met in Brussels on Wednesday.
And in its last report ahead of that meeting, Tony Blair’s office within the Quartet painted a bleak picture for the future of Middle East talks.
Describing a “stalled peace process”, Mr Blair’s office said that: “Over a year on from the breakdown in talks between Israel and the Palestinians, there is still no tangible political horizon in sight.”
The report was also critical of the lack of progress in terms of the redevelopment or integration of Gaza and the absence of any hope that “serious and sustained direct engagement between Israel and the Palestinians will begin any time soon”.
