Tony Blair has attempted to inject fresh life into his Middle East mission by appointing a new chief of staff and trying to persuade Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

It came after diplomats and aid experts in Beit-ul-Moqaddas identified a sense of drift in Blair's mission which after ten months has failed to deliver any significant progress towards its goal of preparing Palestinians for statehood.
Blair has long argued Palestinian civilians must see rapid improvements in the quality of lives under Israeli military occupation to persuade them to support moderates seeking a negotiated peace deal with the Jewish state.
The list of travel and trade restrictions requested from Israel drawn up by Mr Blair's office in Jerusalem is designed as one of these so-called ""quick impact projects"" to improve the lives of a large number of Palestinian civilians.
It calls for the removal of a number of roadblocks, including one near the Jewish settlement of that restricts Palestinian travel to and from Ramallah, the de facto capital of the West Bank.
Israel has been criticized for years for choking normal Palestinian life with its web of checkpoints, roadblocks and security checks but it insists they are all needed to help in its fight with militants.
A World Bank report published this week said normal Palestinian economic activity in the West Bank had been reduced to zero growth mainly because of such restrictions. Under Blair's 'softly-softly' approach his office did not publicize its request for checkpoints to be lifted and his official spokesman declined to comment.
Since taking up his Middle East role Blair has not had many occasions to claim to achievements for his mission and when he has they have collapsed within a few months. Last November at the only full press conference Blair has hosted in Jerusalem he announced Israel had given its backing for a so-called ""quick impact"" program that would improve the lives of thousands in Gaza.
The project was to construct a pipeline to drain a vast overflow lake containing millions of tons of human sewage. But Israel later refused to allow the components needed for the pipeline to reach Gaza.
(Source: telegraph.co.uk)