Tony Blair to testify on Mideast Peace Thursday

Former British Prime Minister and Middle Eastern peace envoy Tony Blair will testify Thursday on Capitol Hill about the peace process.

Blair will testify Thursday afternoon before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is holding a hearing on the status of the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians.

“Since ending his decade of service as Britain’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair has continued to lead on global challenges from development in Africa to interfaith tolerance to climate change,” Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) said in a statement about the hearing. “Tony Blair left office and volunteered for another tough assignment: Middle East Quartet Representative. I look forward to hearing his thoughts on the prospects for peace in the Middle East.”

Blair left office in 2007 after more than 10 years as prime minister, during which he forged a close alliance with two U.S. presidents, especially George W. Bush, with whom he helped initiate the ongoing military engagement in Iraq.

He was named envoy to the Middle East by the U.S., United Nations, European Union, and Russia shortly after leaving office.