NEWS | Sunday, 15 July 2007

Dear Tony, can we have a Palestinian peace force?

Malta is one of 10 EU nations to have asked former British prime minister Tony Blair to study prospects for an international force to patrol the Palestinian territories, in his new role as Middle East envoy.
The letter, which began with “Dear Tony”, is the brainchild of the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, and was signed by the EU’s Mediterranean countries last week in Slovenia and published in Le Monde.
The ministers urged to move on from the “failed” road map, the internationally agreed blueprint for peace, and called for a “robust international force” in the context of a future agreed peace plan, “without being a substitute for one”.
Blair was appointed Middle East envoy by the Quartet – US, Russia, the UN and the EU – confining him to promoting Palestinian economic development and advising on building the institutions of a future Palestinian state.
The letter also urged Blair to push Israel for immediate measures to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, including a mass prisoner release, and called for a reopening of the main crossing points to ease the humanitarian crisis in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The ministers who signed the document, in addition to France, were from Slovenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Romania.