remember him

Remember him?

Amid the furore over the fact that no charges will be brought against

the three people arrested in the cash for honours inquiry, many have

failed to notice that Blair started his new job as Middle East Quartet

envoy on Thursday. The Quartet -- the European Union, the United

States, Russia and the United Nations -- is hoping (some hope) to pave

the way for new peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The "peace makers" have decided there will be no dealings with the

Islamist movement Hamas. Israel is delighted. Sounds like a promising

start, doesn't it? The Americans have also made it crystal clear that

Tony has no real authority to lead or shape the political track within

the negotiations. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has

said that Blair's role is "something that is completely complementary"

rather than being key to the process. Ouch....

Columnist Rami Khouri wrote in Beirut's Daily Star: "If there is an

award for the combined negative credibility of an institution plus an

individual, the Quartet and Blair should be its first recipients.

Appointing Tony Blair as special envoy for Arab-Israeli peace is

something like appointing the Emperor Nero to be the chief fireman of

Rome." That would sum things up rather well in my view.

Tone's post-No 10 vanity job is slowly evolving into a non-job. How

long until he jacks it all in for the lecture circuit? It won't be