JERUSALEM/JORDAN: BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIRS TELLS ISRAEL THAT ULTIMATELY HAVE TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH THE PALESTINIANS

Record ID: 400135

  • Title: JERUSALEM/JORDAN: BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIRS TELLS ISRAEL THAT ULTIMATELY HAVE TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH THE PALESTINIANS
  • Date: 1st November 2001
  • Summary: (U3) JERUSALEM (NOVEMBER 1, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV: MILITARY HELICOPTER LANDING ON HELIPAD AT KNESSET (ISRAELI PARLIAMENT) 0.09 2. CLOSER VIEW OF HELICOPTER; AIDES DIEMBARK INCLUDING ALISTAIR CAMPBELL 0.46 3. SLV: BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR (WEARING WHITE SHIRT) DISEMBARKS HELICOPTER AND SHAKES HANDS WITH OFFICIALS BEFO
  • Embargoed: 16th November 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM/ AMMAN, JORDAN
  • City:
  • Country: Jerusalem Jerusalem Israel Jordan
  • Reuters ID: LVA4MEH197212QECEIJCSFRJQ5Q2
  • Story Text: During a joint news conference between British Prime
    Minister Tony Blair and his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon,
    Blair said that ultimately Israelis and Palestinians would
    have to learn how to live together.

    Sharon announced the formation of a negotiating team in
    preparation for further peace talks with the Palestinians, but
    insisted that more than a year of bloodshed must end before
    any such talks begin.

    Blair's visit to Jerusalem followed a meeting earlier in
    the day with Jordan's King Abdullah as his efforts towards
    boosting Arab support for the U.S.-led "war against terrorism"
    gained momentum. An Israeli-Palestinian truce could assist
    in this endeavour.



    British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived at the
    Knesset building in Jerusalem by helicopter on Thursday
    (November 1). Shortly afterwards he attended separate photo
    opportunities with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
    Foreign Minister Shimon Peres where they shook hands and posed
    for the media.

    Hours before his arrival an Israeli missile strike killed
    two Palestinian militants in the West Bank further undermining
    a proposed Israeli-Palestinian truce which Blair and U.S.

    President George W. Bush are seeking to bolster Arab and
    Muslim support for the U.S.-led anti-terror offensive in
    Afghanistan.

    During a joint news conference with Israeli Prime
    Minister Ariel Sharon, Blair acknowledged the difficulties
    Israelis and Palestinians face but urged both sides to return
    to the peace process as soon as possible.

    "There will be painful compromises everywhere but you come
    back to one simple fact that nobody can dispute that in the
    end Israelis and Palestinians are going to have to live
    together, side by side," said Blair.

    The British Prime Minister then stressed the world's
    support behind efforts to secure peace in the region.

    "What you must understand is that the world does want
    this process to succeed. It understands not only the pain and
    the grief that you have gone through here but it understands
    the threat to the stability and security of the world that
    this problem poses," added Blair.

    During the press conference Sharon said that he too
    wanted peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He said he was
    forming a negotiating team in preparation for peace talks but
    stuck to his long-held position that the violence, in which at
    least 688 Palestinians and 182 Israeli have been killed, must
    end before such negotiations begin.

    "You can see how much I want it (peace) by the fact that I
    am now building a team to conduct negotiations which I and
    Foreign Minister Shimon Peres will lead in order to advance an
    agreement -- first a ceasefire agreement and after that a
    political agreement. It all depends on one thing -- a complete
    end to terror," said Sharon.

    Blair's arrival in Jerusalem followed talks with Jordan's
    King Abdullah in Amman, Jordan. After talks with the Jordanian
    king, Blair reiterated his stand on the Palestinian-Israeli
    conflict, saying Israel had a right to exist in security while
    Palestinians had a right to equality and an independent state.

    Talks in Amman also focused on the U.S.-led "war against
    terrorism" launched in retaliation for the September 11
    attacks on the United States.

    Shortly after meeting King Abdullah Blair said Arab
    leaders were taking a stand against Muslim militants who had
    "hijacked" Islam. The British prime minister added that there
    was a need to remain firm in the international coalition
    against terrorism.

    King Abdullah was among the first moderate Arab leaders
    to give his full backing to U.S. President George W. Bush's
    campaign against terrorism.

    But the Jordanian government has to tread carefully as
    anti-U.S. sentiment has hardened during the Palestinian
    uprising against occupation by Israel. The Jewish state is
    seen as having Washington's full backing.

    Jordan is also concerned the U.S.-led military campaign
    in Afghanistan may extend to neighbouring Iraq and destabilise
    the already turbulent region.

    Blair had sought to defend the U.S. bombing of
    Afghanistan when he met Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and Crown
    Prince Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on
    Wednesday (October 31).

    But with the number of civilian casualties in the air war
    angering Muslims across the world, Blair won little sympathy
    in Riyadh and Damascus.


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