| The four major international players in the Middle East peace process will this week confirm outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair as their envoy, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The business daily said in its last edition that representatives from the Middle East Quartet, comprising the European Union, United Nations, Russia and the United States, would formally agree the 54-year-old’s role when they meet in Jerusalem on Tuesday. “Blair’s appointment has been 150 percent approved,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed figure close to the negotiations as saying in a report from London. “The Jerusalem meeting is all about arranging logistics, making final arrangements and getting the announcement out.” The FT said there was speculation in London that Blair’s long-serving chief of staff Jonathan Powell could accompany him in the new role but no independent confirmation. It added that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is thought to have discussed the appointment with President Vladimir Putin, who has not opposed to it. |