FAIRLY does the stardust fall on Tony Blair.

For after steering Northern Ireland towards peace, he emerges from the Middle East tour as the peacemaker between Israel and the Palestinians.

Actually, it is more a case of him being in the right place at the right time.

For, as with Northern Ireland, though his efforts have been undeniable he is, in many ways, benefiting from the work done by those who came before him.

Now, with Israel and the Palestinians, Mr Blair in the Middle East by virtue of Britain's presidency of the EU, walks into a warm welcome from Yasser Arafat, courtesy of Foreign Secretary Robin Cook having previously put the Israelis on the spot over West Bank settlements, and finding Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu needing to play a counter card.

So, suddenly, the Israelis say: 'Let's talk.' Arafat says he will. America issues the formal invitations and London is made the location.

And Tony gets plenty of credit.

Previous news story

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.