Brown pledges £30m aid to Palestine
The prime minister is set to meet Israeli and Palestinian officials to dicuss the peace process as well as development plans
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Sunday, 20, Jul 2008 09:02
Prime minister Gordon Brown has pledged £30 million of financial assistance for the Palestinian Authority in order to develop its more remote territories.
Mr Brown, who arrived in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli president Shimon Peres and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas earlier today, believes the additional help will help promote peace in the area through economic and social development.
The announcement was made at a joint press conference with Mr Abbas in Bethlehem, where the UK prime minister also pledged to help train Palestinian police.
During the two-day visit, Mr Brown will also visit the West Bank and address the Israeli Knesset - the first such speech at the country's parliament by a British head of government.
Aides have said the agenda for the trip to the Jewish state involves boosting peace negotiations as well as discussions on an economic roadmap for the development of the Palestinian territories.
Mr Brown started his visit by meeting Israeli president Shimon Peres before laying a wreath at the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.
He wrote in the museum's guestbook: "Nothing prepares you for what we see here.
"This is the story of the atrocities that should have been prevented, the killings that should never have happened, the truth that everybody who loves humanity should know."
Yesterday, the former chancellor paid a surprise visit to Baghdad to meet Iraqi officials in the country's capital and later went to Basra to thank troops based in the province's air base.
After holding talks with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki and president Jalal Talabani in Baghdad, Mr Brown said he planned to reduce UK troop numbers in the country but urged that he would not set an "artificial timetable" to bring forces home.
The prime minister said there were four main objectives he wanted to achieve in Iraq: the training of local army and police; holding of local elections; economic and social development in the Basra area; and the transfer of Basra airport to civilian use.