Tony Blair is quitting [View All]

[Poiuyt]

Blair to announce departure date
POSTED: 3:48 a.m. EDT, September 7, 2006

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Trying to quell politically damaging turmoil snowballing within the ranks of his own Labor Party, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce Thursday that he will leave office within a year.

Britain's Press Association reported that Blair will use a scheduled photo opportunity to announce a date for his departure, after eight junior members of his government resigned Wednesday in a dramatic bid to force his hand.

The prime minister's office would neither confirm nor deny a report in the The Sun newspaper Wednesday that Blair had decided to step down as Labor leader on May 31, 2007, after rounding out a full decade in power.

more-

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/07/britain.blair/index.html