Obama battles to save peace plan as fears grow of collapse - Times Online

Obama battles to save peace plan as fears grow of collapse - Times Online

The threat to the Middle East peace process has sent President Obama’s Administration into a tailspin. George Mitchell, Washington’s special envoy to the Middle East, was close to calling off a trip to the region last week but was reportedly press-ganged into going by the White House — who feared that negotiations might collapse sooner if he stayed away.
The crisis has sharpened the focus on Mr Obama’s decision to join the UN Human Rights Council — a reversal from the Bush-era and hailed as part of the US’s new policy of engagement in multilateral diplomacy.
Critics were savage, noting the council’s history of bias against Israel, the only country it has condemned for human rights abuses. Sudan’s behaviour in Darfur merited only “deep concern”.