Britain Tells Israel Its Willingness to Continue Ties with Arafat

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 15, 2003

Britain Tells Israel Its Willingness to Continue Ties with Arafat

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Britain would continue to work with the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the Foreign Office said on Monday.

"I understand Sharon raised the question of dealing with President Arafat, to which the foreign secretary made clear that the British position is with the European Union position, while President Arafat is a democratically elected president of the Palestinian Authority then we will continue to have dealings with him," a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said.

Sharon, who arrived here Sunday for a three-day visit, met withStraw on Monday for talks widely seen as an attempt to seek more British help in changing European attitudes toward both Arafat andIsrael.

Straw and Sharon have discussed the implementation of the US-backed "roadmap" toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians,regional issues such as Iran and Iraq, as well as several consularissues such as the case of two Britons who were shot dead by Israeli troops in the occupied territories, the spokeswoman said.

Local reports said the talks between Straw and Sharon also touched on the issue of Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners.

Sharon, who local analysts said has been urging further isolation of Arafat, was set to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street for a private dinner, during which the two leaders were expected to discuss the peace process in the Middle East.

Sharon, who would leave London for Norway on Wednesday, would also meet with British opposition Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith on Tuesday.

Sharon's first official visit to western Europe since last Junehas also been seen as a chance to improve strained ties between the two countries, which turned sour in January after Blair arranged talks with leading Palestinians and other regional players in London on Palestinian reform without inviting Israel.

Israel responded by preventing Palestinian delegates from traveling to the meeting.

In a statement issued after the Sharon-Straw meeting, Israel's Embassy quoted Sharon as saying that it was important to boost British-Israeli ties and move the Middle East peace process forward, local reports said.

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