Middle East envoy to step down

[barb162]

Middle East envoy to step down


Friday 28 April 2006, 15:02 Makka Time, 12:02 GMT


James Wolfensohn, the international envoy to the Middle East, has decided to step down when his term ends at the end of April.


"His mandate ends at the end of the month. He has no plans of continuing," his office said on Friday.

The former president of the World Bank had been serving as an envoy to the Quartet group of the international mediators to the region - the UN, US, EU and Russia.

During his term, Wolfensohn had concentrated on plans to assist Palestinian rebuilding of the Gaza Strip, following Israel's withdrawal last year.
snip
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/06552E65-0270-410E-B1A2-10569851E9F7.htm

[Scurrilous]

1. Former Mideast Envoy Criticizes Aid Cut to Palestinians

<snip>

"James Wolfensohn, special envoy of the so-called quartet that mapped a road to Middle East peace, sharply questioned the decision of Western powers to cut all aid but relief to the Hamas-led Palestinian government in his final report to mediators.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, said the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations will not be able to fill the void if Palestinian Authority institutions collapse under Western pressure.

After Western nations spent more than $1 billion a year on assistance to the Palestinians, much of it to build government institutions and an economy needed to create a "viable Palestinian state," the report asked: "Will we now simply abandon these goals?"

The quartet is made up of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

"It would surprise me if one could win by getting all the kids out of school or starving the Palestinians," Mr. Wolfensohn, a former president of the World Bank, told a news conference on Monday in Washington with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "And I don't think anyone in the quartet believes that to be the policy."


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/02/world/middleeast/02palestinian.html