With appointment to Gaza Board of Peace, Tony Blair returns to Middle East limelight |
LONDON (AFP) — Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose legacy was heavily tarnished by the 2003 war in Iraq, has long been a contentious figure in the Middle East.
The 72-year-old political veteran was on Friday named by US President Donald Trump as a member of the executive committee of a fledgling “Board of Peace” to help oversee Gaza.
He said on Saturday that he was “honored” to have been tapped by Trump to join the panel, adding that he looked forward to working with “other colleagues in line with the president’s vision to promote peace and prosperity.”
He also welcomed as “a massive step forward” a Palestinian committee headed by former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath, which began work in Cairo on Friday to govern post-war Gaza.
“It gives hope to people in Gaza that they can have a future different from the past and to the Israelis that they may have a neighbor which does not threaten its security,” Blair said in a statement.
Blair has been credited in some media reports with helping craft the US leader’s 20-point Gaza plan alongside Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared........