Off the wire
• China's central bank to ward off financial risks: governor  • Policeman killed, 7 wounded in Egypt's Sinai blast  • Slovakia to send eight tonnes of quake aid to Nepal  • Spotlight: Foreign experts speak highly of China's new defense white paper  • Macao's new pandas pair finish quarantine with good health  • 1st LD-Writethru-China Focus: China to accelerate transport investment  • U.S. appeals court rules against Obama's immigration program  • China to further strengthen cooperation with Spain: Premier  • French stock market index up 1.95 pct on Wednesday  • China Headlines: President Xi stresses role of reform, vows "strategic focus" amid new normal  
You are here: 　 Home

Tony Blair resigns as Middle East peace envoy: media

Xinhua, May 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has resigned as Middle East peace envoy, a role he has held for eight years since his departure from Downing Street, local media reported Wednesday quoting diplomatic sources.

Blair took up his role as Middle East envoy immediately after he stood down as British prime minister in 2007.

The unpaid job was created to mediate the Israel-Palestinian conflict, representing the United States, Russia, the European Union (EU) and the UN, the so called "Quartet".

Blair has written to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to forward his resignation, BBC reported.

Blair remains "fully committed to assisting the international community in its work with Israel and the Palestinians to bring about progress on the two-state solution", the report quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying.

"He believes that he can best support these efforts through working with the key regional players, the USA, the EU and others, without any formal role," the sources added.

It is believed that Blair will formally announce his resignation at a later time. Endit