U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron told students at Qatar University, that some Middle Eastern rulers were using the Israel-Palestine conflict as a distraction from their own oppressive regimes.
“In too many countries in the Middle East, some rulers say to their people ‘be angry about that, don’t be angry about the fact that you live in a non-open society".
Describing himself to the students as “a liberal Conservative, not a neo-conservative,” Cameron said he didn’t believe it was Britain’s role to “point our finger and say this leader has to go and that leader has to go.”
Speaking on the Middle East Peace Process, Prime Minister Cameron said that there needs to be “an urgent return to talks” so that both Palestinian and Israeli aspirations can be fulfilled. The result should be two states, with Jerusalem as the future capital of both, and a fair settlement for refugees, he stated.
Speaking in Doha, Qatar, Mr Cameron said that Tehran “remains a grave concern” because of its intent to acquire nuclear weapons.“Just as the Palestinian Authority needs to shoulder its responsibility to tackle violence from the West Bank, Israel needs to meet its Road Map obligation to halt illegal settlement activity as the Resolution Britain supported at the UN Security Council last Friday underlines".
Already subject to United Nations and European Union sanctions, Mr Cameron raised the prospect of further restraints on Iran’s international trade and financial activities."They are already suffering from international sanctions their economy is weak and vulnerable and the regime only survives by cracking down on its political opposition, On its current path Iran is set to become an international pariah state with no friends, no money, nowhere to go.”
Mr Cameron’s pursuit of sanctions outside the UN is an admission that Russian scepticism about new curbs is likely to block any toughening of the UN regime.
“Both the UN and EU processes are moving very slowly right now, so there is an acceptance that if we want to act on this, we are going to have to do it though other channels “.
"Britain and its international partners remain ready to negotiate and we are not going to be taken for a ride".
"We will continue to find ways to increase the pressure. We will work vigorously to ensure international sanctions are implemented and I have asked my officials to consider what more can be done in this important area."
