TONY BLAIR CALLS FOR AN INDEPENDENT PALESTINIAN STATE
By an IPS diplomatic Correspondent
LONDON 15 Oct. (IPS) British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave Monday his public backing to the creation of a Palestinian state following a meeting at 10 Downing Street with Yaser Arafat.
The Palestinian leader called on the Israeli government to come
"immediately" to the negotiating table to thrash out a negotiated
settlement for the Middle East.
Mr Blair said that the creation of a Palestinian state was central to his vision for peace. "A viable Palestinian state, as part of a negotiated and agreed settlement, which guarantees peace and security for Israel is the objective", Mr Blair said after an hour of talks with Mr Arafat.
"The end we desire," he added, "is a just peace in which Israelis and Palestinians live side by side, each in their own state, secure and able to prosper and develop", he went on.
"It is time for all UN resolutions to be fully implemented", Blair told a press conference after holding talks with Palestinian Authority President Yaser Arafat.
Following the last month's attacks in the US, he said "now is the moment of a renewed sense of urgency" to move the Middle East peace process forward based on justice and peace.
Three weeks ago, the US President George W. Bush had made similar call, stating that the creation of an independent Palestinian State was necessary for combating international terrorism.
Mr. Blair’s Monday statement was a second big blow for Mr. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli hawkish Prime Minister.
"A viable Palestinian state, as part of a negotiated and agreed settlement, which guarantees peace and security for Israel, is the objective," the British prime minister said in his most balanced statement to date on the Middle East conflict.
He denied that his call was provoked by the attacks in the US, saying it was "important in its own right, irrespective of the events of September 11."
"Too many innocent Palestinians and innocent Israelis have died in recent months and years. We have a chance to put right the injustices that have for too long blighted our world and the Middle East in particular," Blair said.
It was the first time that Mr Blair had given his public backing to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Mr Arafat said that the country should have its capital in East Jerusalem.
He also said that any peace deal should implement all existing United Nations resolutions, including UN resolutions 242 and 338, which call on Israel to withdraw from lands it occupied during the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel refuses to recognise a Palestinian state or to give up its hold on West Jerusalem.
Mr. Blair and his Palestinian guest also discussed the bombardment of Afghanistan and concluded that the war meant that it was now more important than ever to secure peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Asked what pressure would be put on Israeli leader Ariel Sharon, Blair said his government would be creating the "context" to move forward.
Arafat said he was also "confident" that US President was "fully committed" to moving the peace process on and would exert pressure on Israel.
Arafat said that during his meeting, he told Blair of the suffering of the Palestinian people, of the seizures, assassinations, bombardments, the growing Israeli settlements and the demolitions of Palestinian houses.
Britain and the US are eager to see an end to the violence that has rocked Israel and Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the past year. Peace there has become especially pressing now that the western coalition against Afghanistan seeks to retain Arab support.
Violence has flared in the past year after the rightwing Israeli government led troops and tanks into Palestinian territory and deliberately targeted Palestinian activists who it saw as posing a threat to Israelis. Israel says it has responded to a rash of bomb and shooting attacks against its nationals.
The Bush administration has been criticised for turning its back on the Middle East, refusing to push through peace initiatives until both Israelis and Palestinians stop fighting.
During his one-day visit to London, Arafat was also holding talks with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy and the Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, before leaving for Dublin to meet Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. ENDS BLAIR ARAFAT 151001