BECKETT VISITS RAMALLAH FOR TALKS

On 7 February, the Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, met Palestinian officials in Ramallah and then took part in a press conference.

In response to opening remarks from the Palestinian Presidential Adviser, Nasser Al-Qidwa, she said:

'Thank you very much and it's a great pleasure for me to be able to visit Ramallah for the first time.

'I share the concern that's just been expressed about the recent violence that has been occurring particularly in Gaza and to express our sorrow that so many lives have been lost.

'We certainly welcome the efforts of President Abbas to promote reconciliation and to try to bring such violence to an end. And also of-course, I very much welcome the efforts being made by others, particularly I believe by Saudi Arabia and Egypt and share their hope that the discussions that are taking place in Mecca will have a good result and help to find a way of moving forward, to have progress on peace.

'I also welcome the general atmosphere in the area. People are showing renewed interest and anxiety to move forward on the path to peace and to try to get a negotiated settlement based on a two-state solution. We certainly remain committed to that goal and will do everything we can to work to help to achieve it.

'And following our discussions I also want to announce a further contribution to the Temporary International Mechanism. As you may know, the contribution so far to the International Mechanism is supporting something like a million people. Today I want to announce a further contribution from the British Government of £2.2m into the Temporary International Mechanism which we hope will enable the work to continue to help and support the Palestinian people at this difficult time.'

In response to a question on a National Unity Government she said:

'We have said for some considerable time that if a National Unity Government could be formed, based on the Quartet Principles we would be happy to deal with.'

Other media from the Foreign Secretary's Middle East trip:

Beckett Meets Israeli Defence Minister
Beckett Meets Israeli Counterpart

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Further information

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