Downing Street Says » Middle East

Asked what the Prime Minister hoped to achieve in the Middle East, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that above all, what the Prime Minister wanted to do was identify where the problems that were preventing the situation from moving forward. The way the Prime Minister had expressed it in Washington last week was that the door to moving forward seemed to be barred at the moment. Prime Minister Olmert had made a very significant and important speech that recognised the need for Israel to move.

The situation on the Palestinian side, however, seemed more fluid, so what the Prime Minister would hope to achieve was to get an understanding of where things were moving to, and how we could help facilitate progress. What was important was that nobody pretended that there was just one lever that they could pull and everything would suddenly move forward. Rather, the momentum needed to go in the right direction, instead of the wrong direction. We had seen things such as the ceasefire which were progressive and were moving the right way, and that was what we wanted to build on. Therefore, the important thing was that we continued to push the situation forward as much as possible, whilst recognising that decisions had to be taken on the ground as well.

Asked if the Prime Minister would be getting involved in talks regarding the release of prisoners, the PMOS replied we had to first of all do the trip, see where we were, and build from there. Sequencing was part of the issue, as was confidence, and above all, the confidence that on both sides, that there was a recognition that we needed to end up with a genuine two-state solution. If people read Prime Minister Olmert’s speech, it did take us further forward, but equally, there needed to be progress on the Palestinian side as well.

Asked if we did not expect any progress on the prisoner situation whilst we were in the region, the PMOS replied that he was not holding out that prospect. What he did believe was that we could identify the issues that were holding things back at the moment.

Asked what the Prime Minister’s view was of President Talibani’s comments that the ISG report was "dead in the water", the PMOS said that he had not heard that particular comment. People would have different views of the ISG report, but at its heart was a recognition that what we were supporting in Iraq was a multi-ethnic democracy which would govern in a non-sectarian way. That was at the heart of our policy in Iraq, and we, and the Government as a whole believed that that was the right way forward. That was also the view that was expressed by Prime Minister Maliki.

Put that Geoff Hoon had said at the weekend that the Prime Minister had lost the argument with Washington over the strategy involving de-Ba’athification, and did the Prime Minister agree with that assessment, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had spoken about deBa’athification in the past. What was important at this stage was finding a viable way forward. That way forward was to proceed with the policy of training and supplying the right equipment to the Iraqi army so that it could take responsibility as the Iraqi Government wanted. As well as people looking back and trying to say what went wrong, they should also not lose sight of what went right. What had gone right were the democratic elections in Iraq, and the process of transferring provinces to Iraqi control and that process would continue. As the Prime Minister had said, it was a very difficult situation, and therefore, in a difficult situation, what was important was that people found a viable way forward that worked with the democratically elected representatives of Iraq and the Iraqi Government.

Put that Mahmoud Abbas had said at the weekend that he had given up trying to form a unity government with Hamas, and did we think that was the right thing to do, the PMOS said that he was not going to act as a commentator for internal Palestinian matters. What was important was that we had said that we would work with any unity government as long as it recognised the internationally recognised principles of the Quartet and that we found a way forward. What would deliver for the Palestinian people was if there was a stable Palestinian partner for Israel to negotiate with. Whatever delivered that, we would support, as long as it ended up where there was a situation where there were two states that recognised each other.

Put that the Prime Minister had mentioned that there were alternatives to the Quartet, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had not mentioned there were alternatives to the Quartet principles. Rather, what he was talking about was whether we moved forward with a unity government, or some other means.

3 Comments »

What the PM hopes to achieve in the Middle East is to pull some scraggy rabbit out of a hat and try to fool some people into thinking he leaves something positive in his ‘legacy’. He is doomed to fail just as he has in Afghanistan and Iraq. His legacy is the chain he forged with George Bush, the worst Western Leader in modern history. I hope the chain drags him down to the same hell he and Bush have created for the ordinary people of Iraq.
Comment by tony — 11 Dec 2006 on 10:18 pm | Link
"what the Prime Minister wanted to do was identify where the problems that were preventing the situation from moving forward"

A look in the mirror should solve that particular problem, Mr. Bliar. How is it you are so incapable of seeing that? Is it because you really aren’t looking for solutions at all?!
Comment by SmokeNMirrors — 12 Dec 2006 on 1:20 pm | Link
"what the Prime Minister wanted to do was identify where the problems that were preventing the situation from moving forward"

A look in the mirror should solve that particular problem, Mr. Bliar. How is it you are so incapable of seeing that? Is it because you really aren’t looking for solutions at all?!
Comment by SmokeNMirrors — 12 Dec 2006 on 4:34 pm | Link

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» Monday, December 11, 2006

Middle East

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