[It comes amid mounting concerns over the multi-millionaire’s business interests in the region. Mr Blair’s corporate roster has included PetroSaudi, an oil firm linked to the Saudi royal family, finance giant JPMorgan and Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi wealth fund. Additionally, Mr Blair’s relationship with officials from the Palestinian Authority was strained from the outset thanks to his pronounced support for the Iraq war and last year allegations surfaced indicating he had agreed to advise Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.]
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| Tony Blair meeting troops in the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq in May, 2003 (PA) |
Tony Blair has “no
credibility” left in the Middle East as rumours continue to circulate that the
former British leader will step down after eight years as the region’s envoy.
Reports of the former
British prime minister’s resignation amid a lack of success come as a former UK
ambassador to Libya claims his appointment was a “mistake” and a US official
described him as a “standing joke” in the region.
It is thought that Mr
Blair is preparing to step back from his diplomatic role as the official envoy
for the Quartet Middle East Peace Negotiators, a foursome - including the
United States, the European Union, United Nations and Russia - involved in mediating
the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr Blair has allegedly
recognised that a frontline role is no longer possible as criticism mounts of
his sprawling business interests and poor relations with the Palestinian
Authority, according to insiders.
Reports indicate that Mr
Blair has met US Secretary of State John Kerry and the EU’s foreign policy
chief Federica Mogherini to discuss a possible job change.
“It is long
overdue,” one diplomat, briefed on the on-going talks,told the Financial Times. “He has
been ineffective in this job. He has no credibility in this part of the world.”
“Tony Blair is neither an asset nor a liability
but his current role is no longer viable,” another individual close to the
Obama administration scathingly claimed.
It comes amid mounting
concerns over the multi-millionaire’s business interests in the region. Mr
Blair’s corporate roster has included PetroSaudi, an oil firm linked to the
Saudi royal family, finance giant JPMorgan and Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi wealth
fund. Additionally, Mr Blair’s relationship with officials from the
Palestinian Authority was strained from the outset thanks to his pronounced
support for the Iraq war and last year allegations surfaced indicating he had
agreed to advise Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Speaking last week, an
official claimed as the last round of 2013 failed negotiations began – shortly
after Mr Kerry’s appointment – the former leader had become a “standing joke”.
“He showed up, but was
not effective,” the senior former official told the Daily Telegraph.
“Honestly, when the Kerry
negotiations were going on, it was like he’d wait until Kerry was going to be
in the region and show up at the same time and then do press releases. It was
sort of unseemly.”
After a decade as British
prime minister his appointment in 2007, at the behest of George W Bush’s
administration, was met with disbelief in some quarters.
Oliver Miles, previously
head of the Foreign Office’s Near East and north Africa department, expressed
surprise that Mr Blair had ever been appointed on the BBC’s Today programme
earlier this morning, calling it a “very strange appointment in many
ways.”
“I think it’s a mistake.
He’s the wrong man. I find it hard to believe, frankly, that the British
Government would support him having a wider role,” he said in a wide-ranging
attack on the former leader.
“I think he’s not been able to do the job. I
think he’s the wrong man and I also think it’s the wrong job,” Mr Miles added.
The former ambassador was
one of 52 retired ambassadors who in April 2004 called for Mr Blair's
resignation in a signed letter.
