Scepticism Hangs Over Blair's Appointment As Quartet Envoy

Tony Blair is to make his first working visit to Ramallah in the West Bank next month as a special envoy of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers to discuss Palestinian state-building, it emerged yesterday after he was confirmed in the high risk job amid skepticism about his chances of success.

In his new role, announced jointly in New York by the US, EU, UN and Russia, Mr Blair, as quartet representative, will work on Palestinian government institutions and the rule of law, mobilize international assistance to Palestinians and promote their economic development.

"He will spend significant time in the region working with the parties and others to help create viable and lasting government institutions representing all Palestinians, a robust economy, and a climate of law and order for the Palestinian people," the Quartet said in a statement.

It stopped short of giving Mr Blair an explicit role as mediator between the Israelis and Palestinians in the peace process but did give him a broad remit to "liaise with other countries as appropriate in support of the agreed quartet objectives". Sources close to Mr Blair said he expected his role to be bigger than the one assigned to his predecessor, James Wolfensohn, a former World Bank president who resigned in frustration in April 2006 and who had focused almost exclusively on the Palestinian economy, preparing for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Mr Blair sees his role as preparing the ground for eventual talks on a final, comprehensive settlement between the Palestinians and Israelis, with his immediate task being to help to heal the violent divide in Palestinian politics between Fatah and Hamas. His appointment left some battered egos and has generated controversy. Russia demanded some last minute changes to the terms of reference - clarifying the new representative's precise status - before the announcement was made. Mr Blair also spoke to Vladimir Putin, Russia's president.

Gordon Brown was described as angry at having been presented with a fait accompli that may make it difficult for him to formulate his own Middle East policy.

"This keeps Blair interminably in the limelight," said one senior diplomat, noting that the former prime minister will be reporting to the UN general assembly in September, just when Mr Brown will make his maiden appearance there.

Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, who has a long diplomatic track-record in the region, was also unhappy at having been upstaged, Brussels sources say. The Foreign Office, where senior officials knew nothing until last Thursday, is said to be in an "institutional sulk".

Mr Blair is understood to have spoken to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, who are happy with the appointment. He has also spoken to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. Jonathan Powell, No 10's former chief of staff, is to work with him. Other officials may follow suit, making up a team of about a dozen experts to be based in East Jerusalem.

Mr Blair is not being asked to run negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel but he will seek Israel's cooperation in areas such as freedom of movement and access. It was failure to make progress on these issues that led to Mr Wolfensohn's resignation.

"The quartet recognize that you can't make significant progress on Palestinian institutions and capabilities without getting the Israelis to help," said one well-placed official. "If they want a partner for peace they have to enable improvements. Obviously we hope there will be a political process but this is an essential component. You won't get the US and Israel moving until they feel this issue is being tackled."

Mr Blair's tasks include mobilizing international economic assistance and coordinating donors and agencies such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) currently done through an ad hoc liaison committee. Another hot issue is reform of the Palestinian police.

It is already clear that Mr Blair will face a grave problem as Israel makes clear that it will not contemplate any dealings with Hamas, and intends to back Mr Abbas to the hilt. Critics say talk of Palestinian governance and capacity building is meaningless if it ignores 1.4 million people in the Gaza Strip and institutionalizes a West Bank-Gaza schism, critics say.

"No one doubts Blair's status and commitment," said one figure closely involved in the quartet deliberations. "He came fresh to Northern Ireland but he's not coming fresh to this and he has an extraordinary amount of baggage. And he's coming in at the worst possible moment."

In public, Palestinian leaders welcomed Mr Blair's appointment. In private, there was scepticism. "Is he going to be listened to? Are his comments going to be respected? Can he really intervene?" asked Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian MP and former peace negotiator. She said the Palestinians did not need help building up their institutions. "We need third party involvement to achieve peace, to curb Israeli measures, to end the occupation and to build a state."

Israeli analysts also noted that their government was reluctant to have an international mediator trying to strike a peace deal. "It doesn't matter who the middle man is or if there is a middle man at all. If the sides are interested it can happen, if they are not it doesn't matter who you bring," said Cameron Brown, deputy director of Global Research in International Affairs at the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya.