Blair's Middle East trip was worthwhile, says Straw
British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s troubled visit to the Middle East made a ‘‘very very significant’’ contribution to reviving the stalled peace process, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw insisted today.
Mr Blair has returned to Britain following a gruelling whistle-stop tour of the region during which he repeatedly heard the parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reiterate their hard-line stances.
On Wednesday, he received a public mauling from Syria’s President Bashar Assad over the bombing of Afghanistan.
Yesterday he received another harsh lesson in Middle East politics when Israeli forces killed two more Palestinian militants just as he was having meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Mr Blair argued as he flew back last night from his visits to Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, that he had achieved something, saying: ‘‘I think there is the possibility, I wouldn’t put it any higher than that, that we can prepare the ground to move the Middle East peace process forward.’’
Today Mr Straw underlined that message, saying: ‘‘The first thing it (the trip) achieved was contact with the leaders concerned.
‘‘Yes of course there were risks involved in the trip, and the prime minister knew very well that at the end of the trip some people would write it up as they have.
‘‘But what we know from the very very sensitive politics and feeling on the street in the Middle East is that if there is dialogue, there is a better chance of for example a reduction in the violence and in the longer term a resumption of the peace process than if not,’’ Mr Straw told the BBC Radio.
‘‘As the prime minister said himself, it is absolutely vital for the stability of the world to get back the Middle East peace process on track.
‘‘There’s no doubt about that. And all of us believe, who know what happened during the trip, that this has been a worthwhile process and has made a contribution towards that end.’’
Mr Straw continued: ‘‘The value of the trip is not to be gleaned from what was said, entirely predictably, from a press conference. The value of the trip was to be gleaned from what was said in private …
‘‘It is of critical importance that this peace process gets back on track, and in our judgment this trip helped very very significantly towards that.
‘‘Time will tell exactly how successful it was but it was certainly very worthwhile.’’
