Blair recruits US lawyer to negotiate book deal

LONDON (AFP) - Tony Blair has recruited an American lawyer and put him in charge of brokering a deal for his memoirs, sources close to the former prime minister told Britain's domestic Press Association yesterday.

The lawyer, Robert Barnett, previously negotiated a 12-million-dollar (8.9-million-euro) deal for ex-US president Bill Clinton's autobiography, "My Life".

Publishing insiders estimate that an autobiography by Blair, who left Downing Street on June 27 after 10 years in office, would fetch a similar amount.

Blair's spokesman declined to comment on the report when contacted by AFP.

According to PA, those close to Blair insist that nothing has yet been concluded, despite rumours that publishers Random House had struck an informal deal with Blair for his memoirs last year.

Random House were the publishers of Clinton's memoirs and also published the diaries of Blair's former aide and Downing Street communications chief Alastair Campbell.

Blair said last February that he did not keep a personal diary during his decade in office and will have to balance writing his memoirs with his responsibility as international envoy of the Middle East Quartet.