Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Middle East, US Relations/Policy, Black Watch and Brussels.
Middle East
Asked if there was now an opportunity for the Americans to take advantage of Mr Arafat’s illness, the PMOS replied that he did not wish to comment in any way about the speculation surrounding Chairman Arafat.
Asked if President Bush was going to make the Middle East as much of a priority as the Prime Minister said he was going to in his speech last night, the PMOS answered that he thought it would be better for President Bush and his advisors to speak about this. He did say that this was a matter that was regularly discussed between President Bush and the Prime Minister. The PMOS expanded, saying that if Israel did disengage from Gaza it created a need to help the Palestinians not only in terms of the security situations there, but also in terms of building up the administration and the political aspects too. The PMOS said that the next steps were how to take things forward, and the important thing was to reiterate what the Prime Minister had said, which was to revitalise the process and create momentum in the right direction, so as full negotiations on the final status issues could take place.
Asked how the Palestinian leadership would be taken forward, given the current vacuum, the PMOS repeated that he did not want to comment on developments surrounding Chairman Arafat, as he hoped people would understand, but in terms of the leadership dialogue, there were already discussions at all sorts of levels.
Asked if this meant that the Roadmap was effectively dead, the PMOS answered that he would repeat what the Prime Minister had said in the press conference with President Bush in The Rose Garden when he emphasised that disengagement from Gaza was a useful first step. It was only a first step, and was not about the final status or a substitute for full negotiations; those had to take place. He added that just because complete progress had not been made in one step, did not mean that the process should not begin. The process should begin where and when it could.
Asked if the Prime Minister’s view was that the Gaza withdrawal was the route back into the Road Map, how could he reconcile that with the view that was put to him in the House of Commons as coming from Ariel Sharon’s adviser who said that this was it, and no further, the PMOS replied that it was not unusual in situations like this one for different people to express different opinions. What was important was that the international community expressed its view for a viable two state solution. The PMOS reminded people that it was President Bush who was the first US President to support that view.
US Relations/Policy
Asked what the Prime Minister could point to as the benefit of his relationship with President Bush, the PMOS answered that in terms of a working relationship with President Bush, whether it was in Afghanistan, Iraq, or on other issues, the Government had never adopted a "tick box culture" that said something was "their" idea or "our" idea, nor would they start now. The important thing was that there was a continuing conversation that worked towards communal objectives. The Prime Minister believed that this was possible.
Asked if the Prime Minister was going to put a message out to the EU leaders in Brussels to rally round President Bush, the PMOS replied that the re-election of the President would no doubt be discussed at some point, and that the Prime Minister saw this as a chance to rebuild the relationship across the Atlantic. He thought it would be better for the discussion to take place before talking about it. He added that everyone now knew that President Bush was in power for four years, and they would work with that fact.
Asked if the Prime Minister believed he had a unique part in rebuilding the bridge, the PMOS answered that as the Prime Minister had said, Britain had always placed a special significance on the relationship with the United States, and it was the duty of any UK Prime Minster to maintain and strengthen that special relationship. He added that everything the Prime Minister had done had been with that in mind, and that would continue to be the case in the future. He repeated that President Bush and the Prime Minister do have a strong relationship and that they continued to have regular conversations to secure continued, shared, objectives.
Asked if President Bush and the Prime Minister were planning to meet soon, the PMOS said he did not know of any definite plans at this time.
Black Watch
Asked about reports that the area the Black Watch were covering was larger than had been originally planned, the PMOS replied that he would rather reply with the official response, and not unofficial rumours.
Brussels
Asked what the main goal of the EU Council meeting in Brussels was, the PMOS answered that what the EU had been working towards was to agree an action plan to help Iraq, specially in the areas of policing, criminal justice and administration. Those would be the main areas that the meeting would concentrate on.
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