Downing Street Says » Middle East

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) welcomed the announcement by President Abbas that he believed that he had reached a basis for a national unity government following his talks in Gaza. Of course we still needed to see the details but this was potentially a highly significant announcement. We would wait to see how this unfolded in the coming days. Asked whether the government regarded President Abbas’s words as breakthrough signals or an expression of optimism, the PMOS said that it was a serious statement that was potentially hugely significant. Events should be allowed to unfold. We would not get ahead of ourselves. We would have to see where we got.

Asked what the timescale was for the Prime Minister’s return to the region, the PMOS said that it would be determined by events and by the substance. We would not be drawn into artificial timelines. The Prime Minister was very clear that he would come back and that he believed, as today’s discussion with the Lebanese government had underlined, that he had a role to play not just in Palestine but in Lebanon also. He would return when he believed it would be useful to in order to try and move things on again. We had already seen things move on in the last few days. We were not exaggerating how far we were down the road. It was still very early days but at least we had seen the beginning of re-engagement. That was important and the statement by President Abbas was potentially a significant one.

Asked whether yesterday’s statement by the Hamas spokesman that the terms of the Quartet were unacceptable and they remained unacceptable so Hamas rejected them, the PMOS said that he would not intervene in discussions between the PLO and Hamas, particularly not at such a sensitive time. It was a matter for the Palestinians to resolve. President Abbas was well aware of, and had always agreed with, the basis by which we would deal with a national unity government. The Prime Minister had spoke about this himself yesterday. Asked if there was any indication that Hamas would join the unity government on a basis that we could deal with, the PMOS said that the key was what the approach and principles of the government as a whole were. That was what was important in how the Lebanese government approached the issue and that was what would be important in how the government in Palestine functioned. Put that we did not say a new position from Hamas, the PMOS said that you dealt with government not individual parties.

Put that the Prime Minister had not been welcomed there and had his popularity had been improved by his visit, the PMOS said that this was not about popularity. It was about addressing the core issue as identified by Israel, by Palestine and by the government and Prime Minister of Lebanon today. We were offering very practical help to the Lebanese government with their army’s operations, security support from HMS York, rebuilding of bridges and humanitarian aid. We could also help by getting and maintaining movement on the Palestinian issue. We had seen some movement in the last few days. Talking about popularity and vindication was to miss the point. The point was could the Prime Minister fulfil a useful role. It was the judgement of the three leaders that he had met this week that he could. This mattered far more.

1 Comment »

It’s nice to see that Blair is welcome somewhere.

<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2657/610/1600/060911111707.pru79arw1_a-lebanese-woman-carries-a-banner-denouncing-blair.0.jpg">http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2657/610/1600/060911111707.pru79arw1_a-lebanese-woman-carries-a-banner-denouncing-blair.0.jpg</a>
Comment by Mike — 11 Sep 2006 on 9:49 pm | Link

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» Monday, September 11, 2006

Middle East

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