British PM Brown: Stop settlements to end "deadlock"

Published yesterday (updated) 18/07/2009 17:32 Prime Minister Brown in Bethlehem [Ma'anImages] Bethlehem - Ma'an -

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday that freezing the illegal Israeli settlement construction in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank would help restart the peace process.

Speaking to a committee of United Kingdom parliament members in London, Brown said, "The deadlock has to be broken in some way."

"I feel that if the Israelis were prepared to freeze settlement construction, there would be a response in the Arab world. And I think that is a way that you can see that movement forward could happen," he added.

"All of us are putting pressure [on Israel's new government], recognizing, of course, that Israel must have guarantees about its security, recognizing that a Palestinian state cannot be viable unless it is economically viable," Brown noted.

The prime minister also went on to say that US President Barack Obama could play a decisive role in stopping Israel's illegal activities in the occupied territories, and applauded recent efforts by the American leader to bring both sides to the table.

"I believe that the talks that President Obama has called in Washington are important, and I think that has a potential for being the next step forward. I know Senator George Mitchell is doing a huge amount of work in the region and he has our support," he added.

Brown's comments came amid a flurry of demands by other European leaders, including France's foreign minister, who last Friday called on Israel to stop settlement expansion and resume peace talks.

"In the Middle East, things seem to be advancing. But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not moving forward -- on the contrary," said Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Beirut, where he also met with a Hizbullah legislator as part of a recent French and British initiative of engagement with the group that the US and Israel consider a terrorist organization.

Kouchner added that France is concerned about the situation in the Holy Land, but is "very hopeful that this will move forward as well, meaning a viable, independent Palestinian state that can live in peace" with Israel, he said.

Kouchner's comments on settlements came the same day that German media quoted Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier insisting that settlements remain an obstacle to peace in the region. "A solution has to be found... but a solution will not be found as long as the settlements continue to be expanded," he said in Berlin.