Downing Street Says » Middle East

» Thursday, November 25, 2004

Middle East

Asked whether there was any further development on the possibility of a London Conference on the Middle East, the PMOS answered that the next step in the process were the Palestinian elections, and to do everything we could to allow those elections to take place. With regards to what would happen afterwards, as we said during the White House visit, any conference would not be held just for the sake of holding one; instead, it would be a means to an end. The first step towards the end, therefore, would be to hold elections, then to hold proper discussions about how to build up Palestinian infrastructure, so it could respond positively to a withdrawal from the Israeli authority. Only then could it progress forward to final status negotiations. All of those steps needed to be taken bit by bit, rather than jumping ahead.

Asked if the government believed that a London conference would play a role in getting final status negotiations going, the PMOS said things should be taken step by step.

Asked if the government had any views regarding the Syrian President’s recent comments that he was ready to restart negotiations with Israel, the PMOS said that with the Middle East as a whole, dialogue was the only way forward, but with regards to the precise comments, as he had not seen them, he would not comment further.

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