Jet-setting Blair on the back foot: 'I could make a lot more money'

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Former British prime minister Tony Blair said he could make a lot more money than he did as he defended his ''jet-set'' life and strongly denied claims that he had used his role as a peace envoy in the Middle East to win private business contracts.

Mr Blair used an interview on India's CNBC-TV18 to say he had been upset by allegations that he had profited from mobile phone and gas deals in the Palestinian territories, and that he had lobbied Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan government on behalf of the merchant bank JP Morgan, because they were "untrue" and "absurd."

His comments were made amid growing controversy over his "billionaire lifestyle" and alleged pro-Israel bias in his role as envoy of the Middle East Quartet - for which he mediates on behalf of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations."

<snip>

"I probably spend two-thirds of my time on pro bono activity. I probably spend the biggest single chunk of my time on the Middle East peace process, which I do unpaid," he said. "I left office (in 2007) with two people and a mobile phone. I've now got about 150 people working for me. So if what I was interested in doing was making money I could make a lot more and have a very gentle and easy life."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/jetsetting-blair-on-the-back-foot-i-could-make-a-lot-more-money-20110930-1l1fk.html#ixzz1ZSFKg97t

[Jefferson23]

1. He has been blasted in many OP's lately, I have been enjoying it, lol. n/t

[azurnoir]

2. so selfless of Mr Blair but perhaps it's time he

allowed personal interest to take the forefront in his life and leave the selfless diplomacy to others

[LeftishBrit]

3. Yes, I'm sure he could make more money, but as the tycoon is said to have told his children...

'Never forget that money isn't everything. You can be just as happy with 40 million dollars as with 50 million dollars.'

And after the Iraq war, Blair could not have had credibility in a peace process, especially in the Middle East - so how he got appointed to such a role is beyond me.

[Jefferson23]

4. Palestinian official: Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair 'useless'

Nabil Shaath says former UK PM 'talks like an Israeli diplomat'; states that Quartet proposal for renewal of direct peace talks is too vague.

By DPA

A senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday said that former British premier and current Mideast Quartet representative Tony Blair was "useless."

"Lately, he (Blair) talks like an Israeli diplomat, selling their policies," Nabil Shaath told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "Therefore, he is useless to us."

Shaath said that while the Palestinian Authority has not yet asked the Quartet - made up of the United States, European Union, Russia and United Nations - to replace him, it was obvious Blair was not favored in Palestinian circles anymore.

The Palestinian official said that while a Quartet statement issued Friday, aimed at relaunching direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, had "very few flaws," it left too much room for interpretation.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-official-mideast-quartet-envoy-tony-blair-useless-1.387526

[bemildred]

5. Picture:

http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.295929.1276444823!/image/1807006178.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_474/1807006178.jpg

[Jefferson23]

6. lol, poor Tony. n/t