WASHINGTON - President Bush has talked with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about taking a role as a Middle East peace envoy after he leaves office next week. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, the State Department’s top diplomat for the Middle East, talked with Blair in London on Wednesday, while the White House and State Department spoke glowingly about the prime minister’s credentials but said there was nothing to announce yet.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also expressed support for Blair playing a role in the Middle East.

“Officials in the prime minister’s office are aware of this idea and Prime Minister Olmert is very supportive of Prime Minister Blair and of his continuing involvement in the Middle East and the peace process,” Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.

Blair steps down next Wednesday.

“Obviously Prime Minister Blair has been very active and deeply involved in Middle East peace issues throughout his prime ministership,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

She said Blair and Bush speak often. “It would not surprise me if they have talked about what Prime Minister Blair would like to do following the end of his term … but we don’t have anything to announce today,” Perino said.

read more at YAHOO NEWS

Oh so that’s why the Poodle is there……..

TRIPOLI (AFP) - Libya announced on Tuesday it will sign a 900 million dollar exploration deal with British energy giant BP, which London says plans to return the north African country after a 33 year absence.

“We are going to sign with BP an oil exploration and prospecting accord on Libyan territory worth 900 million dollars,” said the head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation Shokri Ghanem.

Later he clarified that the agreement focused solely on gas prospecting in the Sirte region 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of Tripoli and at Ghdamess 700 kilometres (435 miles) south of the capital.

The announcement came ahead of a visit to the oil-rich nation by British Prime Minister Tony Blair who is starting a tour of Africa before he leaves office next month.

“BP will be announcing that they’re going back into Libya,” a spokesman for Blair said, confirming that the outgoing premier was due to hold talks with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

More at YahooNews

from the BBC NEWS

Prime Minister Tony Blair has made a surprise visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Mr Blair is due to have talks with President Jalal Talibani and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

“He’s in Baghdad against a backdrop of the continuing major security operation but also significant developments in Iraqi politics,” a spokesman said.

It is Mr Blair’s seventh visit to Iraq and is expected to be his last before he steps down from office next month.

The British leader landed in Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone after flying from Washington DC via Kuwait.

Mr Blair is expected to push for greater reconciliation between Iraq’s Sunni and Shia factions.

Sunni and Shia leaders are having regular meetings with elected Iraqi officials.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said: “The next few months are crucial in building on that momentum.
“What the prime minister will want to highlight in this visit is the fundamental link between politics and security.”

Colbert on Blair’s legacy.

The Ugly Rumours single War - on which George Galloway features - will debut in the mid-week music chart this Wednesday at Number 6!

Thanks and congratulations to everyone who helped put it there. But the task now is to make it Number 1 at the weekend and show Tony Blair what the country thinks of him. It’s a musical referendum on Blair, the war and the plans for Trident.

Thousands of people on Saturday’s march in London bought the download, propelling it into the chart after George made his appeal to the massive crowd. Text Peace1 to 78789 - make sure all your friends and contacts do! - and we can take the single to the top of the singles chart. Look out Gary Barlow, cry your eyes out Justin Timberlake!

Source: GeorgeGalloway.com

Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of UK troops from Iraq. Mr Blair is due to make a statement about the 7,000 British troops serving in Iraq at the Commons on Wednesday.

The BBC’s James Landale said 1,500 troops were expected to return home in months, rising to 3,000 by Christmas.

Downing Street has not confirmed the reports but Whitehall sources have told the BBC the process could be slowed down if the situation in Iraq worsens.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “It is right that the prime minister should update Parliament first.”

However, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe confirmed that President George W Bush had spoken to Mr Blair on Tuesday. Mr Bush recently announced plans to send 21,500 more US troops to Iraq.

Mr Johndroe said: “While the United Kingdom is maintaining a robust force in southern Iraq, we’re pleased that conditions in Basra have improved sufficiently that they are able to transition more control to the Iraqis.

Read more at BBCNews

This is pretty funny! Gotta love the Brits!

From George Galloway:

Friends,
As you may know we are intent on getting the single War by Tony
Blair’s old band Ugly Rumours into the charts in the week after the
big Stop the War demo in London (Feb 24). You can register for the
chart download now by texting (if in Britain) peace1 to 78789. Do it
and it will be the biggest humiliation ever and will show the depth of
feeling against Blair and this illegal war. The cost of the download
is £1.50.

All of the profits on the single go to the Stop the War Coalition

If you are not in Britain go to www.uglyrumours.com where you can
download the single.

This is a musical referendum on Blair and the illegal war.

Please send this message or your own individual one to all of your
friends and contacts.

George

From the Ugly Rumors site:

Hi Pop Pickers,

You may or may not know that I was in a band at university called Ugly Rumours - which is a coincidence as it was my ugly rumours that got us into the war in Iraq in the first place! The war has killed approximately 650,000 civilians and more than 3000 British and US soldiers, without us finding any weapons of mass destruction.

I’ve joined up with Stop the War Coalition and on the 25/02/07 “Ugly Rumours” - fronted by yours truly - are putting out a cover version of the Edwin Starr classic “War (What is it good for?)”, we are aiming to get the track in to the UK pop charts for March the 19th, the 4th year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq to show the government what people really feel about their actions. (Plus I want to be remembered as the UK’s highest charting British Prime Minister of all time!)

You can buy/pre-order the track NOW or at anytime by texting the word “PEACE1″ to 78789 or by clicking the button below. You can buy it several times if you like, either way the song will only cost you £1.50 (plus standard network charges) with all the profits going to support the good work that Stop the War Coalition do. We only need around 5000 sales to get Ugly Rumours into the charts so please take the time to buy it NOW!

I know I didn’t give you a chance to vote on Britain going to war so please think of this as a musical referendum on me before I leave office!

PLEASE forward this site to as many people as you can and tell them about my great new single and video. (Check out my video below with cameos from my old friends, George Galloway, my real life sister in law Lauren Booth and Brian Hoare). You can join my Ugly Rumours fan club by entering you email address below, we will then send you exclusive video links for our other promos and information on how Ugly Rumours are progressing in the charts.

Yours always,

Tony Blair

Tony Blair will make clear this week that Britain is not going to send more troops to Iraq even if the US pushes ahead with a “surge” of 20,000 extra soldiers.

The Prime Minister will insist that the UK will stick to its own strategy of gradually handing over to the Iraqi army, as it has been doing with success in Basra and the south.

President Bush will announce a new US policy for Iraq either tomorrow or Wednesday. There are currently 140,000 US troops in Iraq, compared to 7,000 British servicemen and women. Mr Blair, in a rare distancing from White House policy, has been keen for Britain to be seen to be acting under its own initiative.

Chancellor Gordon Brown said yesterday that as Prime Minister he would conduct a foreign policy based firmly on British interests.

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