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British PM Condemns Killing of Israeli Minister
British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday condemned the assassination of far-right Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi and called for restraint on all sides.
"We condemn utterly this contemptible act of violence. I urge restraint on all sides in response to the men of violence who only want to wreck any proposals for peace," a Downing Street spokesman quoted Blair as telling his ruling Labor Party.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also expressed his shock at, and condemnation of, the killing.
"We have all been profoundly shocked at the news of this morning," Straw said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
He said he had called his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres, to "express the shock of the British government at what had happened and to ask that our condolences be passed on to the family of the minister."
Rehavam Zeevi was killed on Wednesday by suspected Palestinian gunmen. The radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group claimed responsibility for the first Arab assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.
The killing took place two days after Blair told visiting Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat that he supports the establishment of a Palestinian state and called for urgent efforts to revive stalled Middle East peace talks.
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