Mideast peace process/Sharm el-Sheikh Summit – SecGen/UK Foreign Secretary UK press encounter – Transcript (excerpts)

Press Encounter of the Secretary-General’s press encounter with UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw

Lancaster House, London, 10 February 2005

(unofficial transcript)

(Revised)

JACK STRAW: It’s been a very great pleasure indeed for Prime Minister Tony Blair, and myself to welcome Secretary-General Kofi Annan to London, where the high point of today has been his address to the international conference at the Banqueting House on the UN High Level Panel Report, a panel whom Kofi appointed some eighteen months ago. We look forward very much to continuing work on that report.

With the Prime Minister and now, over lunch, with myself, we discussed a very wide range of issues including Iraq, Iran, the Sudan and the Middle East and many other matters too.

We are very grateful indeed to you, Secretary-General, for your support for the London meeting which the Prime Minister has called in support of the Palestinian Authority for the first of March and for your support being shown by your personal attendance.

We all, I think, have taken great hope from yesterday’s news of the outcome of the Sharm-el-Sheik meeting, but the opposite of hope from today’s news of continuing Hamas attacks injuring, but mercifully not killing anybody.  But I’d like to make clear our complete condemnation of those attacks. They are attacks not just on the individuals who are the target of the attacks, not only on Israel, but also on peaceful Palestinians. It’s a clear effort to sabotage the peace process which is just beginning, but we hope very much that the result of stronger relationships between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority that these terrorists do not succeed in that strategic objective of theirs.

Thank you.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: Thank you very much, Jack.