16 December 2006
The Prime Minister has given a press conference in Cairo following talks with President Mubarak of Egypt.
Read the transcript:
Prime Minister:
Good Afternoon everyone. First of all can I say that I had a very good set of talks with President Mubarak. Needless to say we went over the full range of issues in the region, but particularly focusing on the Palestinian question. And we both agreed that this was a very important time, not just for attempts to resolve the Israel-Palestine issue but also in the broader regional context. And in that regard I would like to say some words about the speech that President Abbas has given this morning. I think this is a very important speech at a critical time. What it shows is the desire of the Palestinian President to improve the lot of his people who are suffering in a terrible way and have been for a long period of time. He has worked hard to try and bring about a unity government in which everyone, including Hamas, are represented, but he is also signalling his determination to move on without them if they are unwilling or unable to play a constructive part. And I think this is the moment for the international community to come behind him, to help build his authority and his capability to deliver improvements in the living standards of the Palestinian people, but also the progress that we all want to see in resolving the Israel-Palestine issue.
Now I know people will look back over the past few years and say well things have gone backwards and how on earth can we make progress in this situation, but I think it is at the very moment when it is so clear that the alternative is stark, we either re-energise and revitalise this process or we face continuing disintegration, it is at this very moment that we have got to step forward. And if the elected President of the Palestinian people is prepared to give leadership in this situation, we the international community should be standing behind him and supporting him in doing that, and supporting him in bringing about what is the only just solution, which is two states living side by side in peace.
So I think this is, as I say it is a very, very critical important time indeed and I think his speech today signalled a new determination to find a way forward to overcome the obstacles and the challenges that are there and to make sure that nothing is allowed to obstruct that progress. And for that reason I think the discussions that I will be having then over the next few days will obviously be important and timely.
Question:
Prime Minister do you believe elections will actually happen or do you think that this is effectively a threat to kick-start another attempt at a unity government?
Prime Minister:
I think that President Abbas is making it very clear. President Abbas is saying there are going to be elections, the door is still open to Hamas at any point in time to come into a national unity government but he is assuming his responsibilities as President and saying if you are not prepared to come in on the basis the whole of the international community want, then he the President is going to find a different way forward, and we have got to be there supporting him. So what is necessary in this situation is that he shows the leadership and we show the support. Now today he has given that strong signal of leadership and over the next few days we have got to work out what it is we do in order to support that process. But yes I think he is serious about elections because the only way in the end we are going to make progress is if the Palestinian people demonstrate their will for the two state solution provided they are fairly treated and given the support, both financial and political, to achieve statehood.
Question:
Sir, have you considered supporting Hamas as the only active Sunni force opposed to strengthened violent Shiites to the east? And do you have an exit strategy from Iraq? And also what message do you have for tourists since you have been our goodwill tourist Ambassador to Egypt over the years? And Merry Christmas.
Prime Minister:
Right, thank you. Yes, the Ambassador here was saying that the British, there are now 1 million tourists here a year, so that is a very considerable tribute to the wonders and joys of Egypt. I think in respect of Iraq I have probably said in previous interviews virtually everything I have got to say. But in respect of Hamas, let me make this clear. President Abbas has been trying, so has the international community, to say to the leaders of Hamas you can be part of the solution, you don’t need to be part of the problem, and we would help and support you if you decided to do that and the door always remains open. But the difficulty is, as you can see over the failure to release Corporal Shalit, as you can see over the failure to form a national unity government, at the present time for their own reasons Hamas are not prepared to be constructive, and if they were then what would happen? Palestinian prisoners would be released in significant numbers, I believe that would happen; there would be additional financial assistance to the Palestinian people; there could be a clear way forward set out for negotiations towards peace which I am sure the United States and others would lead. So all of this could happen if they were constructive. So the problem, and I think it is very important particularly in the region that people understand this, there is an impression sometimes given that we have stood off from Hamas, that we have said you know we are not prepared to recognise your electoral mandate. We have not said any of that. What we have said is if you want to be part of the solution, here are the terms, come and work with us. But the best witness to the failure of those attempts to bring Hamas in is President Abbas because he is the man who has been trying day in, day out, to do it.
Question:
But as Hamas have pointed out, their government was elected as well and effectively when you talk about moving on without Hamas you are simply choosing, aren’t you, between one sort of democracy and another in the Palestinian Authority territory, in other words importing that old European Union principle that leaders like democracy and if they don’t like the answer they just go on asking the question until they get the right one?
Prime Minister:
Well look the point you make expresses the dilemma, because President Abbas is also elected as the President, Hamas has been elected as the government. What President Abbas is saying is that he will call fresh elections because he recognises that in the end this has got to be done according to the will of the Palestinian people, but what he is also saying is that he cannot allow the deadlock between the way he wants to go forward and the refusal of Hamas to play a part in that, he can’t allow that deadlock to hold back the Palestinian people.
The prime concern we should have at this present time is the plight of the Palestinian people themselves. Their living standards have declined, many of them are living in poverty, many of their public service workers are not being paid properly, they have a situation where because of the difficulties with border crossings and so on they live a very much diminished life, even from a few years ago. So what I think President Abbas is saying is that he has tried to make this process work, putting together his democratic mandate and that of Hamas, he is now faced with a situation where it appears that can’t work, and so he is saying he, the President, has to assume his responsibility, otherwise the country remains in the grip of that deadlock and that is an appalling situation for the people. So you are right in the sense that you have got to, at some point, this then has to be re-legitimised with the Palestinian people. But in the meantime I think we should get behind President Abbas and what he is trying to do.
Question:
Mr Blair, you come to the region with three separate conflicts ongoing, in Iraq, in Lebanon and in Palestine we have seen … Palestinian fighting in Gaza. What is your approach towards that, what do you want to achieve on this particular point? And on Darfur, you signalled the No Fly Zone over Darfur, what did you hear from the Egyptian President today on that subject?
Prime Minister:
Well just on the last point in relation to Sudan, we obviously had a discussion about this. The President of Egypt will do what he can in order to make sure that the agreement that the United Nations has entered into is implemented, and I thank him for that. And you know the discussion of everything to do with No Fly Zones and sanctions, that is all on the basis that we can’t get the UN solution in place, but it is absolutely right that our first priority has got to be to put it in place. In respect of the rest of it, I think what we should do is support democratic, moderate and modernising forces everywhere in the region. That means in Iraq where there is a democratic government that wants to put an end to sectarianism, it means in Lebanon where there is a democratic government under Prime Minister Siniora that we should support, and it means in Palestine where the President wants to find a way forward to help the Palestinian people and bring about a two state solution. So that is what I think we should do. And you know the division in this region is increasingly clear and it is interesting as you go from a European Council meeting to Turkey, and come here to Egypt, right round the world people are seeing a very clear strategic choice for this region and therefore for us, between those people that want faiths to live together in tolerance, that want democratic forms of government, and that want peace and stability in the place of violence and conflict, and most particularly to see that in Palestine where the Palestinian people are suffering as a result of the conflict and as a result of the inability of us to find a way forward. So our task is now to find that way forward and to support President Abbas in what he is trying to achieve.
Question:
Prime Minister, you said the international community must stand behind President Abbas, you were actually saying this two years ago as well. Do you feel frustrated that if America had truly put all its commitment and energy into Middle East peace, not just two years ago, three and four perhaps when you were trying to do that, that you in fact would be a lot further down the track towards finding a solution?
Prime Minister:
Well I think everyone is frustrated with the situation here, but I don’t think everything can be put at the door of America I am afraid. There is a responsibility for all of us and for people here in the region and I think the most important thing now, right now, because I never believe in giving up in these situations, is to take what the President of the Palestinian people is saying, which is effectively I have had enough, let’s try and find a different way forward, this is the way I want to go. We have got to get behind him and support him now. And I think there is a different appreciation outside of the region about what the critical strategic choice is within this region now, and by that I mean this. I think that when people look at what is happening in Iraq, or in Lebanon, or in Palestine, they see forces that are trying to disrupt the democratic process, trying to undermine peace and stability, trying to put people against each other, western versus Muslim, Shia versus Sunni. Those are forces that are trying to do everything they can to destabilise this region and I think increasingly the outside world is saying well this is the moment where we have got to try and get behind those people that have a different point of view, that want this region to stabilise, move forward, modernise, where moderate people can work together. And I would say that whereas a few years ago that strategic choice for the whole of the region was less clear, I think it is very clear today and I think it is also very clear the forces within the region that are trying to do that destabilisation. So we will have to see what the next few days bring, but I think this is an important moment. I think President Abbas has given important leadership here and it really will be a major strategic opportunity missed for all of us, not just in the region but outside, if we don’t get behind him and back him now.
Question:
Sir, many observers believe that Iran is the … in the region now. The meeting with President Mubarak, as one of the key players in the region, do you have a similar or common assessment of how to deal with Iran, especially with international controversy, opening a dialogue with Iran and Syria or a confrontation, so how do you see it?
Prime Minister:
You know I think that people have over-stated this issue to do with dialogue with Iran and Syria or not. First of all, as I have said constantly, I don’t think you can treat Iran and Syria as exactly the same. But in respect of Iran, and obviously it is for President Mubarak to speak for himself in this, but in respect of Iran I think there is a very common view within this region and outside now, that whether it is in Iraq with militias, or in respect of Lebanon undermining the Siniora government, or it is in respect of the more extreme elements of Hamas in Palestine, then Iran seems to see its purpose as to derail the prospects for stability and peace and democracy. And I think that for many of us who genuinely want to form what the Turkish Prime Minister has called an alliance of civilisations, in other words a sort of alliance of moderation against the extremists, for many of us it is fairly clear that whenever we look at the troubled issues within the region there are some people trying to help and there are some people trying to harm that progress. And it is therefore difficult to see with the role that Iran is playing at the moment how they can be constructive players in this. But I think what people would say is if you want to be constructive and to change then people are willing to reach out to you, but it is your choice, I mean we have made our choice, you have got to make yours. And I know there has been a lot written about divisions in the US and elsewhere about you know do we reach out to Iran and Syria or not, I think most people are in the same place to be honest, how they phrase it may be slightly different but the essential judgment is the same, it is up to Iran to decide. If Iran wants to reach out, we are there, but if what they are going to do is undermine the government in Iraq, undermine the government in Lebanon, undermine President Abbas in Palestine, well what can we do? We can’t be constructive if that is the way that they are playing things. So I think really the choice lies with them.
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