Un nouvel émissaire américain pour le Moyen-Orient ! Une réelle priorité pour OBAMA ?

20.01.2009

"Ex-Senator Considered as Envoy to Mideast" By ELISABETH BUMILLER January 18, 2009

WASHINGTON - People close to Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that George J. Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader and the chairman of a Middle East peace commission in 2001, was a leading candidate to be the Obama administration's special envoy to the Middle East.
The appointment of Mr. Mitchell, a seasoned and well-regarded negotiator, would signal that President-elect Barack Obama was attaching a high priority to the Middle East and the current Gaza crisis from his first days in office. Obama transition officials declined to comment on Mr. Mitchell, but David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's senior adviser, told CNN on Sunday that Mr. Obama would move quickly to address the instability in the Middle East and hoped that the new cease-fires in Gaza would last.
Let me say that all of us are hopeful that a cessation of violence will hold, Mr. Axelrod said.

People close to Mrs. Clinton, who is expected to be confirmed soon after Mr. Obamas inauguration, said it was not clear how soon she would travel to the region. The sources asked not to be named because discussions about the job were still under way.

Early trips to Europe and the Middle East are traditional for modern secretaries of state, but complicating matters are the Feb. 10 Israeli elections and a concern that Mrs. Clinton not be seen as siding with one potential prime minister over others.

Senator Clinton has no plans for travel, and in any event, it would be premature to discuss any potential travel to the region prior to the Senate considering her nomination, said Brooke Anderson, the national security spokeswoman for the Obama transition team.

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[Merci à Justin]