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JERUSALEM, May 23 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had a close call Thursday when two Israeli jets threatened to shoot down his plane, officials said. Blair, now a special Middle East envoy, was en route to Bethlehem from Egypt when his private jet was spotted entering Israeli airspace. When controllers could get no response from the pilot and fearing a terrorist attack, they scrambled fighter jets to intercept the aircraft, the Times of London reported Friday. The pilot identified himself after the fighter jets got in position to fire and the interceptors peeled off and returned to...

South Africa led efforts to block the dispatch of a UN envoy to Zimbabwe yesterday as the UN Security Council met on the election stand-off for the first time. Diplomats said that South African opposition to a UN mission meant that the next step would probably be a public meeting of the 15-nation Security Council on Zimbabwe under Britain’s presidency in May. Britain and other Western nations have been pushing for a greater UN role in resolving the month-old election crisis, since Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, raised it at a UN summit on Africa this month. The Security Council...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush, acknowledging that the U.S. needs to burnish its image in the Islamic world, named a Texas entrepreneur as liaison to The Organization of the Islamic Conference. Sada Cumber, who is a Muslim by faith, is the first U.S. special envoy to the intergovernmental organization, which represents more than 50 Islamic states and promotes Muslim solidarity in social and political affairs. Bush said the United States is misunderstood and that Cumber's mission is to explain to the Islamic world that America "is a friend of freedom" and that the United States values the freedom of religion....

Blair accused of 'stabbing Hillary Clinton in the back' after supporting RepublicansLast updated at 00:56am on 20th January 2008  Former allies: Bill Clinton and Tony Blair   Tony Blair was accused of betrayal last night as he waded into the American Presidential campaign to support George Bush's Republican world view. As the former PM recommended Mr Bush's policies to 400 millionaire bankers in Las Vegas, former ally Bill Clinton was campaigning in Nevada for his wife Hillary, who hopes to be the Democratic candidate for the White House and is an arch Bush critic. In a move liable to...

The Talk Shows Sunday, November 4th, 2007 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Former President George H.W. Bush. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Mark Penn, chief strategist for Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign.THIS WEEK (ABC): Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Mideast peace envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

At Jerusalem hotel, Blair joins intriguing guest list, including believers, spies, generals The Associated Press Thursday, November 1, 2007 JERUSALEM: Tony Blair is not the first outsider to try changing the Middle East from the elegant corridors and intrigue-steeped courtyards of one Jerusalem hotel on the line dividing Arab and Jew. For a century and a quarter before the former British prime minister set up his offices in a large suite of rooms at the American Colony this summer, the Jerusalem institution has been drawing pilgrims and spies, diplomats, generals and journalists. They have come for redemption, information, or for...

WASHINGTON - Sports, not politics, will be Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.'s emphasis in his new role as a special envoy for the State Department. "This isn't a political statement for me, necessarily," Ripken said Monday after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice formally announced his appointment. "This is about the kids and planning baseball and using baseball for good reasons." Ripken, who set the Major League record for consecutive games played — 2,632 games in a row, earning him the nickname "Iron Man" — said he was ready for the task, which will take him first to China...

TONY BLAIR is expected to inspect a prospective new home - known locally as a palace - when he travels to Jerusalem tomorrow on his first trip to the Middle East as a peace envoy. He is said to be keen to take over the one-time residence of the British High Commissioner for Palestine, with its ballroom and spectacular view of the golden dome of Al-Aqsa mosque. The house, built of Jerusalem stone in 1931, was once the pride of British diplomacy and occupies a commanding position in West Jerusalem on the inauspiciously named Hill of Evil Counsel, where Judas...

Blair: 'Sense of possibility' in Mideast Quartet envoy says he has come to region 'to listen, learn and reflect' during two days of meetings with Israeli, Palestinian leaders, but adds he already senses a willingness by sides to make progress. Opposition leader Netanyahu warns him against Iran, its branches in Middle East Ronny Sofer and AP Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, making his first public comments as the international community's Mideast peace envoy, urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders Tuesday to take advantage of a new "sense of possibility" in the region. Blair, who arrived in Israel on Monday, said...

Tony Blair couldn't even wait for the announcement of his appointment as special envoy for the Quartet - America, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations - to repeat this famous mantra in the House of Commons: "The only way of bringing stability and peace to the Middle East is a two-state solution, which means a state of Israel that is secure and confident in its security and a Palestinian state that is not merely viable in terms of its territory, but in terms of its institutions and government." Is he really serious -"the only way"? No other options...

A road map for Mr. Blair By SHLOMO AVINERI The appointment of the former British prime minister as the Quartet's representative for the Middle East peace process has already put Tony Blair in the crossfire of regional politics. Many Arab commentators have voiced their dissatisfaction with the appointment of a person identified with President Bush's policies in Iraq; some Israelis have expressed a mild unease, given Blair's insistence on an early cease-fire in last year's Lebanon war; and there are rumblings from Brussels that Blair may take some of the limelight from the EU's Javier Solana. On top of all...

Shortly after the former British prime minister stepped into his new job, he assured Russia and the Europeans that he did not mean to adhere to the US-Israeli boycott of Hamas. One of his first tasks would be to establish ties with Hamas representatives in Gaza and Damascus.Concern was also voiced in Washington over the new British prime minister Gordon Brown’s appointment of David Miliband as foreign secretary. One US official remarked that if Brown, Miliband and Blair and their advisers coordinated Middle East policies, then Washington and Jerusalem had plenty to worry them.

Amid growing criticism that his administration hasn't focused enough on engagement in the Middle East, US President George W. Bush on Wednesday announced that he would appoint an envoy to an organization of Muslim states and endorsed British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the new Quartet representative. Blair was appointed on Wednesday. Bush, speaking at the rededication of the Islamic Center of Washington, said the creation of an American envoy posting to the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference was "an opportunity for Americans to demonstrate to Muslim communities our interest in respectful dialogue and continued friendship." Bush's latest effort...

I am just wondering, but a question to all end times prophecy student, wouldn't it be strange if Blair was to broker a 7 year peace deal?

Tony Blair is to become a Middle East envoy working on behalf of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU. The announcement comes just hours after he stood down as UK prime minister and shortly before he is expected to quit as a Member of Parliament. Earlier, Mr Blair said a "solution" to problems in the Middle East was possible but that this would require "huge intensity and work".

The White House is pushing for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to be made a special envoy to work on forming a Palestinian state in the unstable Middle East after he steps down, reports said Thursday. US newspapers cited unnamed officials as saying that the administration of President George W. Bush was laying the groundwork for Blair to be appointed as an envoy for Palestinian state-building, although Bush's spokeswoman refused to confirm the report Thursday. If Blair accepted the job, he would represent the diplomatic Quartet for the Middle East, comprising the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the...

US 'wants Blair' for Mid-East job Tony Blair steps down as UK prime minister on 27 June Tony Blair has spoken to President Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about becoming a Middle East envoy, a White House official says.Two senior US administration sources told the BBC that the PM's aides have indicated he is interested in the role. The president would reportedly like him to be an envoy for the quartet of the US, European Union, UN and Russia. The PM's official spokesman said there was lots of speculation over Mr Blair's future, much of it...

Tony Blair’s nomination for the post of international envoy in the Middle East is likely to be confirmed as early as today despite grumbles from Europe and last-minute wrangles over his job description. Sources in London and Washington indicated yesterday that the announcement will be made if agreement is reached between the so-called “Quartet” of powers – America, Europe, Russia and the United Nations – which oversee the Middle East peace process. Mr Blair’s nomination has been pushed by Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, and – to a lesser extent – the White House, in behind-the-scenes negotiations over...

June 26, 2007 Blair set to clinch job as world’s man in the Middle East Tom Baldwin in Washington, Greg Hurst and Philip Webster Tony Blair’s nomination for the post of international envoy in the Middle East is likely to be confirmed as early as today despite grumbles from Europe and last-minute wrangles over his job description. Sources in London and Washington indicated yesterday that the announcement will be made if agreement is reached between the so-called “Quartet” of powers – America, Europe, Russia and the United Nations – which oversee the Middle East peace process. Mr Blair’s nomination has...

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe said Tuesday that opposition to President Robert Mugabe has reached a tipping point because the people no longer fear the regime and believe they have nothing left to lose. Zimbabwe's government and party are in disarray and can no longer govern effectively, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Dell said in an interview with The Associated Press. Growing numbers within the regime and the party also want Mugabe to step down, he said. Dell stressed he was not advocating or predicting any violent overthrow of the government, but noted there was disaffection within the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms seized an Iranian diplomat as he drove through central Baghdad, officials said Tuesday. Iran said it held the United States responsible for the diplomat's "safety and life." One Iraqi government official said the Iranian diplomat was detained Sunday by an Iraqi army unit that reports directly to the U.S. military. A military spokesman denied any U.S. troops or Iraqis that report to them were involved. "We've checked with our units and it was not an MNF-I (Multi-National Forces - Iraq) unit that participated in that event," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a...

US envoy attacks British truce with Taliban By Tom Coghlan in Kabul and Damien McElroy in Washington Last Updated: 2:10am BST 25/10/2006 America's ambassador to Afghanistan yesterday expres-sed deep unease over the British military's ceasefire with the Taliban and subsequent withdrawal from a flashpoint town. British troops on operations in Helmand British troops moved out of the town of Musa Qala in north Helmand last week after a truce negotiated by tribal elders acting as intermediaries with the militia. After months of heavy fighting in which eight British soldiers and hundreds of Taliban fighters died, they handed over to an...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad insisted Tuesday that things are not all bad in Iraq, citing the growing number of satellite dishes on rooftops and consumers with cell phones as signs of economic progress. "Economically, I see an Iraq every day that I do not think the American people know about — where cell phones and satellite dishes, once forbidden, are now common, where economic reform takes place on a regular basis, where agricultural production is rising dramatically, and where the overall economy and the consumer sector is growing," the American envoy told a Baghdad news conference. Some...

In an extraordinary expression of concern, Pope Benedict XVI has sent Cardinal Roger Etchegeray as his special envoy to the Lebanon to convey his "concrete solidarity" and "spiritual closeness" to 'the martyred population" of that war-destroyed land, and to "all those who are suffering" in the Middle East. Before leaving Rome on Sunday morning, the 83-year-old French cardinal was tightlipped and would only say that his mission was "to bring hope" to the Lebanese people.   The Vatican emphasised that the cardinal's visit was "strictly religious" but sources suggested that he hopes to meet with the country’s political leaders. He will...

UN envoy attacks Israel over Gaza Israel has ordered its army to widen its operations An emergency meeting of the UN's new human rights body on the Gaza crisis has heard condemnation of Israeli policy and its effects on civilians. Israel was violating in Gaza the "most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law", UN envoy John Dugard told the special session. But Israel, which threatens to broaden military action, said the Human Rights Council was ignoring its concerns. The meeting was called by Muslim states with support from Russia and others. UN aid agencies warn of a...

THE iconic US actress Bo Derek has been appointed as special envoy of the Secretary of State for Wildlife Trafficking Issues. Derek, best-known for her role in the 1979 feature film "10", appeared at a ceremony at the US State Department and said she was honoured to accept such a "daunting" role and to do her part to help save the environment. "I know my participation in this is going to be small compared to people actively working in the field, but I might be able to help with public awareness," said Ms Derek, dressed in a black pant suit...

President Hugo Chávez warned he could declare the United States ambassador William Brownfield persona non grata and thus expel him from Venezuela if the diplomat continued to walk around Venezuela "as if he owned the country." Chávez' remarks came Sunday during his 252nd weekly radio and TV ¡Aló, Presidente! (Hello, President!), from north central Carabobo state. The Venezuelan ruler mentioned an incident involving Brownfield last April 7th. The US diplomat was visiting a baseball field in Coche, southwest Caracas, to make a donation of sports goods, but pro-government activists insulted him and threw objects at him. Chávez urged Brownfield to...

Pelosi to Call for Special Envoy to Sudan Friday March 17, 2006 3:01 AM By ERICA WERNER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is calling for the appointment of a U.S. special envoy to Sudan, where a three-year rebellion in the Darfur region has left an estimated 180,000 people dead and displaced 2 million more. ``This special envoy would signal that bringing peace and stability to Sudan is a priority for the United States,'' Pelosi, D-Calif., said in prepared text of a speech to be delivered Friday at the Center for National Policy. ``To do...

In the opinion of US Ambassador William Brownfield, Venezuelan Vice-President José Vicente Rangel was kidding when he labeled as "toilet paper" the annual report on human rights issued last week by the US State Department. "I think that my good friend, the Honorable Vice-President was joking a little bit with us when he referred himself to the report as toilet paper, because, as you know, my government is a government of the 21st Century and we do not use paper for our reports. It is an electronic report. Therefore, in no way he was serious," Brownfield said. The diplomatic noted...

US envoy warns of Iraq civil war Holy sites in Iraq are being protected after recent attacks The US ambassador to Iraq has said that continuing sectarian violence there had the potential to turn into civil war. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Zalmay Khalilzad indicated that the US had little choice but to keep a strong military presence in Iraq. He added that the dangers of conflict would be lessened if Iraqis agreed on a national unity government. But US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the media had exaggerated the severity of recent violence. At a Pentagon...

SAN`A, Yemen - Two Yemeni teenagers convicted of trying to kill the U.S. ambassador in 2003 were sentenced Sunday to five years in prison. The judge said the two — 17-year-old Hezam Ali Hassan and 18-year-old Khaled Saleh — would be held in "a special prison" because of their ages. According to an indictment, the two followed the car of then-U.S. Ambassador Edmund Hull in the capital, San`a. Hassan — carrying a pistol and two hand grenades he intended to throw — then climbed the outside wall of a store that Hull had entered. Saleh waited outside with a machine...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - International envoy James Wolfensohn told Middle East mediators the Palestinian Authority faces financial collapse within two weeks because of Israel's decision to cut off tax transfers after Hamas's election win. Even if the Palestinian Authority survives the coming month with emergency funding, Wolfensohn said "violence and chaos" could break out unless a long-term funding plan is developed for when a government led by the Islamic militant group is in place. Wolfensohn issued the warnings in a letter to the so-called Quartet of Middle East mediators -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia....

U.S. Expels Venezuelan Envoy After Chavez Ousts U.S. Navy OfficerState Department describes action as appropriate response to Chavez's decision By Lauren MonsenWashington File Staff Writer Washington -- In response to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's February 2 decision to order the expulsion of a naval attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the United States has declared Jeny Figueredo Frias, a diplomat at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, "persona non grata."The dispute, which further exacerbates tensions between the two countries, began with Chavez accusing U.S. naval attaché John Correa of espionage.  The U.S. Embassy forcefully has denied the charge and...

New Canadian PM rebuffs US envoy Mr Harper criticised opponents for anti-US positions during the election Canadian Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper has defended plans to send military ice-breakers to the Arctic in defiance of criticism from Washington. US ambassador David Wilkins said on Wednesday that Washington opposed the plan and, like most other countries, did not recognise Canada's claims. Mr Harper said his mandate was from the Canadian people, not Mr Wilkins. Mr Harper's Conservatives have promised to defend Canada's northern waters from claims by the US, Russia and Denmark. The party won a narrow victory over the outgoing Liberal...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 20, 2005 – The U.S. ambassador to Iraq envisions "an Iraq that works" - a country on a path to increase democracy, and one that will respect the rights of all in the country. At a news conference here today, Zalmay Khalilzhad said he wants an increasingly prosperous Iraq that poses no threat to its neighbors, and serves as an example to the region of the power of democracy. The ambassador said it's too early to talk "definitively" about the results of the Dec. 15 election, but it appeared "as if people preferred to vote their ethnic or...

ESIGODINI, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday accused a top U.N. envoy of being a "hypocrite and a liar" and said he would refuse to accept future emissaries from the world body if they were British agents. Mugabe told a conference of his ruling ZANU-PF party that U.N. humanitarian affairs and relief coordinator Jan Egeland had gone out of his way to insult and misrepresent Zimbabwe after he ended a four-day tour of the country this week. "You can see how they raise this, so that the rest of the international community can say 'human rights in...

Envoy: Somalia Could Become Terror Haven Thursday November 10, 2005 1:16 AM By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Somalia could become a terrorist haven because it is a failed state where the number of extremist groups is growing, the top U.N. envoy for the country warned Wednesday. Francois Lonseny Fall said he told a closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council that ``extremist groups were growing not only in Mogadishu (the capital) but in the rest of the territory'' and were sometimes carrying out assassinations. ``This is a real threat not only for Somalia but...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today said the Bush administration was considering opening direct contact with Iran as part of a broader effort to gain greater cooperation from Iraq's neighbors in quelling the insurgency that grips large swaths of the country. "We're considering whether that might be useful," Rice said. She told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that any such contact would probably take place between the U.S. and Iranian embassies in Baghdad. Direct US diplomatic contact with Tehran would be highly controversial within the Bush administration, which has long been divided between hardliners who have argued that any...

WASHINGTON - The chief U.S. negotiator on global warming acknowledged Wednesday the nation's glacial pace in reducing greenhouse gases and said even that might not continue in the future. "One can argue whether it's slowing down fast enough, but it is slowing down," Harlan Watson, a State Department special envoy, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "We're doing better than business as usual. That's the president's goal." Business as usual allows the United States to release into the air each year about 6.6 million tons of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases scientists blame for heating the atmosphere...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A Canadian businessman lost his job as the top U.N. envoy to North Korea amid questions about his connection to a suspect in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, the world body said Monday. The decision not to renew Maurice Strong's contract follows criticism that he gave his stepdaughter a job at the United Nations and concerns over his ties to a South Korean businessman accused of accepting kickbacks from Saddam Hussein's government. Deputy U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in response to a question that Strong's contract expired last week "and it has not been renewed." She gave...

HARARE, Zimbabwe - An envoy for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Zimbabwe on Sunday to investigate a government-sponsored campaign that has destroyed the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans. Hours before the arrival of Anna Tibaijuka, head of the seven-member delegation, a state-run newspaper reported that the government was finishing the campaign dubbed Operation Murambatsvina, or Drive Out Trash. The Sunday Mail report was dismissed by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Party spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said the destruction of shanty towns continued unabated over the weekend in the southern border town of Beitbridge....

CUERNAVACA, Mexico (AP) - Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, Mexico's former ambassador to the United Nations who was forced out of his job after saying the United States treats Mexico like a "back yard," died Sunday in a car crash, police said. He was 55. Known for his independent streak, Aguilar Zinser was a vocal critic of the United States' unilateral actions in Iraq during his tenure as U.N. ambassador. He left the position in late 2003 after a diplomatic flap touched off by his comments in November 2003. In the 2003 discussion with university students in Mexico City, Aguilar Zinser said...

Canadian businessman and UN envoy Maurice Strong is one weird dude. Weird in his sidekicks. Mikhail Gorbachev, for one. The former Soviet leader and the Canuck really believe they can replace the Ten Commandments with their overstated Earth Charter, Weird in his handpicked protégés. Try Canada’s Prime Minister Paul Martin, the career politician whose one and only trip to the election polls as Canadian PM reduced the powerful Liberal Party to minority status. This, after assuming the mantle left by the departure of Jean Chrétien in pomp and splendour Indian smudging ceremonies, addressed by Irish rock star, Bono. Martin’s surrealistic...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United Nations is studying whether it was appropriate for the top U.N. envoy for North Korea to maintain business ties with a South Korean businessman accused of wrongdoing in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, U.N. officials said Tuesday. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he had not known about the ties between Maurice Strong and Tongsun Park, a native of North Korea and citizen of South Korea who was also accused in the 1970s of trying to buy influence in Congress. Strong is the U.N. point man on stalled six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to...

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a surprise news conference this evening, announced the appointment of former U.S. Senator John F. Kerry, as Special Envoy of the United Nations to France

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a surprise news conference this evening, anounced the appointment of former U.S. Senator John F. Kerry, as Special Envoy of the United Nations to France

I BIT MY TONGUE AND RESISTED the urge to fire off an angry email. Reading through an on-line discussion board for budding Catholic apologists like myself, I had come across a message written more with an excess of zeal than with a correct understanding of canon law. Granted, the offending message was written with the best of intentions, and I also admired the offending author as a competent biblical apologist when it came to defending the Catholic faith against Protestant challenges. Nevertheless, this apologist’s competency with the Bible didn’t extend to the Code of Canon Law. And the question had...

Soon to be US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice is likely to appoint a special Middle East envoy, political sources have revealed. Rice said privately this week that the US administration would step up its involvement in the region, while concentrating on the January 9 Palestinian elections and the promotion of the peace process. According to well-placed sources, when asked how Washington would step up its involvement, she replied, “Just wait and see”. Rice, who is still serving as President Bush’s National Security Advisor, has stressed that the president is still committed to the vision of establishing a democratic...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites)'s ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites) defended the world body on Wednesday, after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) said the United States, not the U.N., was best for democracy. Schwarzenegger electrified the Republican National Convention on Tuesday evening with a speech blending quips from his movie-star past with somber stories about his immigrant struggles. At one point, seeking to define the beliefs of his political party, he stated, "If you believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope for democracy, then...

Recently translated documents captured by U.S. forces provide new evidence of a direct link between Saddam Hussein's regime and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Rosters of officers in Saddam's Fedayeen list Lt. Col. Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, who was present at the January 2000 al-Qaida "summit" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at which the 9-11 attacks were planned, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Fedayeen was the elite paramilitary group run by Saddam's son Uday, which was deployed to do much of the regime's dirty work. The U.S. has never been sure Shakir was at the Kuala...