Blair's Card for Mideast Situation: News Analysis

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 19, 2002

Blair's Card for Mideast Situation: News Analysis

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When the US President Bush refused to continue to deal with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, British Prime Minister Tony Blair took an action quite unusual. When addressing the British Parliament Monday, Blair announced his invitation to leading Palestinians to come to London in January to an international conference discussing how to put an end to the long-lasting Israel-Palestinian conflicts.

Representatives from the UN, EU, Russia, the US and involved Middle East countries are to be invited to the planned London conference, Blair said, to discuss reforms in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and how the international community could help with the Middle East peace process. To push forward Palestinian reforms is for interests of both Palestine and Israel, Blair stressed, and would help the two countries to exist side by side in peace and security.

Blair's invitation immediately received active respond from the Palestinian side. Arafat thanked Blair for his invitation, and had decided to send a senior delegation to London, according to Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat. Arafat also sent letters to the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia asking them to complete and publish the peace plan as soon as possible, Erekat revealed.

Blair's action is a "signal" indicating that his Middle East policy is different from that of Bush, and Britain is set to play an "independent role" in seeking for new peace plans, according to the Guardian published on December 17. While Palestinian representative to the Britain pointed out that the Middle East policy of Britain is different from that of the US, for the former recognizes Arafat's legal status as democratically elected Palestinian leader.

On the issue of Palestinian--Israeli conflicts, British people believe that Israel should enjoy full security, but they don't recognize that Israel has sovereignty over Jerusalem and are against Israel to expand Jewish settlements. Britain also holds that Palestinian has right to establish a country of its own and supports aids provided to it. Since Palestinian and Israel fell into bloody conflicts Britain has been calling for political solutions through negotiations, hoping the international community intervene actively and the US make more mediation efforts.

However, it was disappointed by the US who demanded replacement of Arafat, otherwise the Washington would not deal with him any more. While the British government expressed many times its respect to the choice of Palestinian people, as well as its will to work together with Arafat if he is reelected. The two important points of British policy on middle east, are support to the establishment of Palestinian state and recognition of Arafat's legal leading position.

The planned London conference will be chaired by Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and attended by Blair himself, British newspaper reported. Straw said that we can not do everything, but this doesn't mean we do nothing, and hailed the coming London conference as a step towards the correct direction.

It is still too early to predict the results could be achieved at the London meeting. But one point is certain: Blair has resolved to intervene in the Middle East problem directly, and try to exert more influence when Palestinian and Israel could not control the situation and the US holds a negative attitude, for this can not only lift Britain's international status but also help to stamp out domestic opinion saying he is "going too far in following the US".

By PD Online Staff Member Li Heng

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