Fayyad meets British Deputy PM in London

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Sunday met British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg during Fayyad’s visit to London as head of the Palestinian Olympic delegation. Fayyad also met the Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, and FCO Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt. Clegg said, “Fayyad and I discussed the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and agreed on the urgent need for progress in the Middle East Peace Process.' He said that progress in the peace process is in the great interest of both Palestinians and Israelis, therefore, both should restart negotiations.   Clegg assured Fayyad of the UK’s strong and continued support and discussed the need for all donors to provide predictable and consistent funding to allow this work to continue. “I also reiterated to Fayyad the Government’s serious concern at Israeli human rights violations in the OPTs, including demolitions of and evictions from Palestinian homes, restrictions on freedom of movement and the continued stifling of the Gaza economy. We agreed that the threatened demolition of entire villages in the southern Hebron hills, by Israel, is utterly unacceptable,” he said. Clegg stressed the UK’s particular concern over continued Israeli settlement construction. In a related matter, Burt and Fayyad discussed support the UK had provided for the Palestinian Paralympic Team, in particular the close co-operation between the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government to enable athletes from Gaza to visit Jerusalem for the first time.