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Australia’s former foreign minister retires from politics

Former foreign minister Alexander Downer, who juggled Australia’s historic ties to the West with its Asian ambitions for more than a decade, announced his retirement from politics yesterday.

Downer, one of the most visible supporters of US President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq, served in prime minister John Howard’s conservative government from 1996 until it was ousted by the center-left Labor Party in November.

The 56-year-old told reporters he would quit on July 14 after 24 years as Liberal Party member of parliament for Mayo in the South Australian capital of Adelaide because “it is time to move on.”

Downer said he was keen to take up a post as UN special envoy for Cyprus, but the role had not yet been confirmed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he discussed Downer’s possible Cyprus appointment during a conversation with Ban late on Monday.

The Australian newspaper reported in May that Ban was keen to use Downer to resuscitate stalled diplomatic efforts to reunify the island, which has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded after a failed coup aimed to unite the island with Greece.

The scion of a prominent south Australian family with a long history in politics, Downer also plans to join an Adelaide consultancy firm and take up a part-time position at Adelaide University’s School of History.

Downer, hailed in the Australian this week as a “Warrior Statesman” but seen by some critics at home and in Asia as pompous and arrogant, said he had no regrets about his political career.

“I don’t really have regrets. I just feel that I did my best, I worked incredibly hard and I argued for the things I believed in,” he said.
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