VARIOUS: BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR SAYS THE UNITED STATES WILL INVITE ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU AND PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT ARAFAT TO PEACE TALKS IN LONDON

Record ID: 337668

  • Title: VARIOUS: BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR SAYS THE UNITED STATES WILL INVITE ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU AND PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT ARAFAT TO PEACE TALKS IN LONDON
  • Date: 20th April 1998
  • Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP (APRIL 20,1998) RTV - ACCESS ALL 1. SV PALESTINIAN RIDING DONKEY AND WAVING PLO AND BRITISH FLAGS 0.08 2. CU/SV OF BRITISH AND PLO FLAGS OUTSIDE SHOPS IN GAZA (2 SHOTS) 0.15 3. SV PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS CALLING FOR THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS 0.23 4. SLV MARCH OF PROTESTERS 0.28 GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP (APRIL 20, 1998) RTV - ACCESS ALL 5. SV OF ARAFAT AND BLAIR SHAKING HANDS AT PHOTO-OPPORTUNITY 0.46 6. SV WIVES, CHERIE AND SUHA CLASP HANDS/ PAN TO ARAFAT AND BLAIR (2 SHOTS) 0.55 TEL-AVIV, ISRAEL (APRIL 20, 1998) RTV - ACCESS ALL 7. LV/SV US DEFENSE MINISTER WILLIAM COHEN MEETS ISRAELI COUNTERPART YITZAK MORDECHAI AT DEFENCE MINISTRY (5 SHOTS) 1.20 TEL-AVIV, ISRAEL (APRIL 20, 1998)- RTV - ACCESS ALL) 8. SLV U.S DEFENSE SECRETARY WILLIAM COHEN AND ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER YITZHAK MORDECHAI WALKING TO PODIUM 1.29 9. MCU WILLIAM COHEN ADDRESSING NEWS CONFERENCE SAYING THAT THE UNITED STATES INTENDS TO DO ITS PART TO KEEP ISRAEL STRONG AND ALLOW IT TO TAKE RISKS FOR PEACE (ENGLISH)/MORDECHAI LISTENING (3 SHOTS) 2.15 10. CU MEDIA 2.28 11. SV COHEN AND MORDECHAI SHAKE HANDS, WALK OFF 2.28 JERUSALEM (APRIL 20, 1998)- RTV (ACCESS ALL) 12. LV EXTERIORS PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE 2.33 13. MCU ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYHAU SAYING IN REGARDS TO A PROPOSED MAY 4TH SUMMIT IN LONDON WITH PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT THAT A NUMBER OF POSSIBILITIES WERE DISCUSSED AND THEY INVOLVE THE BILATERAL WORKING (OUT) OF PROBLEMS AND, IN SOME CASES, THE FACILITATION OF OTHERS (ENGLISH) 3.05 GAZA (APRIL 20, 1998) - (ACCESS ALL) 14. SV OF BLAIR AT PALESTINIAN SHATI REFUGEE CAMP 3.12 15. SV/MCU BLAIR AND HIS WIFE CHERIE AND ARAFAT'S WIFE SUHA GREET CHILDREN (7 SOTS) 3.59 16. SV BLAIR LEAVES HOUSE WAVES TO CROWDS 4.10 GAZA (APRIL 20, 1998) RTV - ACCESS ALL 17. SLV BLAIR AND ARAFAT WALK INTO NEWS CONFERENCE 4.19 18. MCU/SV ARAFAT SAYING "MR BLAIR I WOULD LIKE TO INDICATE ONCE MORE, THAT I WILL RESPOND POSITIVELY TO THE AMERICAN IDEAS AS I HAD DECLARED BEFORE" (ARABIC) (2 SHOTS) 4.38 19. MCU BLAIR SAYING "THE UNITED STATES I UNDERSTAND HAS SAID OR IS GOING TO SAY SHORTLY THEY WILL INVITE BOTH THE PRESIDENT THE PALESTINIANS THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL TO BI-LATERAL MEETINGS IN LONDON ON THE 4TH OF MAY (ENGLISH)/ ARAFAT SAYING (THROUGH TRANSLATOR) WE WELCOME THIS INVITATION AND WE WELCOME YOUR HOSPITALITY (2 SHOTS) 5.17 28. SLV OF NEWS CONFERENCE. 5.26 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 5th May 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM/GAZA/TEL-AVIV, ISRAEL
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA6V6M2MC1ETDVD7RPQZRRUK0RO
  • Story Text: British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the United States would invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to peace talks in London on May 4.

    Hours before Blair's arrival in Gaza on Monday (April 20), mothers of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel held a rally where they carried banners demanding their release.

    On his arrival in Gaza and before his talks with the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Blair and his wife, Cherie, attended a photo-opportunity,during which Blair's wife and Arafat's wife, Suha shook hands for the photographers Arafat told Blair he was ready to go to London to discuss U.S.proposals to break the deadlock in peace talks with Israel.

    "We discussed it at the meeting and Yasser Arafat strongly indicated to us that he was favourably disposed to go anywhere to discuss the U.S.proposals," the British prime minister's official spokesman told reporters after Blair met the Palestinian leader in Gaza.

    U.S.Defense Secretary William Cohen, on a fourth leg of a visit to southern Europe and the Middle East, met his Israeli counterpart Yitzhak Mordechai in Tel Aviv.

    Cohen also met Netanyahu on Monday and said Washington was ready to fund research and development for a third Arrow anti-missile battery.

    He said the United States intends to do its part to keep Israel strong and allow it to take risks for peace.

    In Jerusalem Netanyahu raised the prospect of high-level talks to break a year-long stalemate in peacemaking after he met Blair in Jerusalem on Sunday.

    In a surprise announcement on Sunday (April 19) Netanyahu said he was ready to go anywhere, including London, within the next month to try to advance the peace process.

    On Monday (April 20) he said "We have talked of a number of possibilities.They involve the bilateral working (out) of problems and, in some cases, the facilitation of others but I prefer to wait until Mr Blair has a chance to complete his rounds," Netanyahu said in Jerusalem.

    "We are in touch of course with the United States as well and we will be in touch with you," he told reporters.

    While in Gaza Blair visited a Palestinian refugee camp, with his wife Cheri and Arafat's wife Suha.They went into a Palestinian family's house to look around.

    At a news conference with Arafat Blair said the United States would invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Arafat to peace talks in London on May 4.

    "The United States, we understand, has said or is going to say shortly they will invite both the president of the Palestinians and the government of Israel to bilateral meetings in London on the fourth of May," Blair told a news conference in Gaza.

    Arafat responded positively, saying: "We welcome this invitation." He said he wanted a meeting with Israel in which the United States and the Europeans would participate.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register