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Issue of the day: Foreign affairs
Party spokesmen debate key issues in foreign affairs.
Labour: Foreign secretary Jack Straw
This year began in the most tragic way possible, as the world came to terms with the terrible impact of the tsunami in southern Asia.
Meanwhile in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, there is some cause to be guardedly optimistic about the prospects for progress in the coming year. The new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, bears a strong democratic mandate from the Palestinian people, following the well-run elections on 9 January.
Another terrible conflict, in Darfur in Sudan, must also be high on the international agenda this year. I will be working for stronger international pressure on both government and rebels to end this conflict. We will also be pursuing the discussions on UN reform which are so vital to making that pre-eminent global organisation, and its members, more effective in the face of crises such as that in Darfur.
The conflict in Darfur also illustrates how conflict in Africa as a whole is a brake on that continent's development. As G8 presidency this year, and EU presidency from July, the UK will be seeking to put Africa back at the top of the international agenda, and deliver the greater help which we need if its goals for development are to be met.
That means not just working on aid, but on opening world markets to African products, helping to stop the spread of diseases, and promoting more accountable government across the continent.
Our work on climate change - the other priority of our G8 presidency - is also vital if we are to mitigate a threat which is most acute in the world's poorest and most vulnerable countries, especially in Africa.
A year from now, we could be looking back at a period in which the UK has helped to deliver lasting international support to the countries struck by the tsunami; a sustained political process in Iraq; progress on conflicts such as in the Middle East and in Sudan, on UN reform, and on Iran; and a greater focus on climate change and on Africa, two issues which are vital for all our goals of sustainable development.
That illustrates the importance of 2005 - and the importance too for Britain, working with our allies and especially within the EU and with the US, of seizing the opportunities which this year offers. I am determined that we do so.
Conservatives: Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has provided the backdrop to regional, and even global, geopolitics and attitudes for more than half a century. And for more than half a century that dispute has appeared as intractable and insoluble as ever it was. There have been moments of optimism and hope as at Taba in 2001, yet every time the hopes of the world, and most importantly, of the two communities have been sadly dashed.
As we enter 2005 we are faced with a new challenge in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, a new landscape and a new opportunity. To the Israelis Yasser Arafat was a terrorist, a man with whom they could not negotiate; to the Palestinian people he was the personification of their cause, the leader of their fight for freedom. Only history will judge which, if either, of these views is right and whether he was the man who brought the Palestinians to the verge of statehood, or whether he was the man who never could take that final step to deliver that statehood. What is undeniable is that with his passing last November the sense of loss among the Palestinian people was profound.
What immediately became apparent, and what was almost tangible when I attended the Cairo funeral, was a recognition that the passing of Yasser Arafat represented the end of an era. An era marked by high points of hope and lows of appalling acts of terrorism. The landscape has changed.
As I saw in Northern Ireland, to set rigid timescales or preconditions gives power to extremists. We must be flexible and in the first instance trust, leading to dialogue, between the two sides must be rebuilt and Abu Mazen must be given a fair opportunity to establish himself as President among his own people and to bring groups such as Hamas on board.
For too long Palestinians have felt dispossessed and stateless; For too long Israelis have felt threatened, unrecognised as a state and vulnerable to the devastating effects of terrorism and suicide bombings.
The election of Abu Mazen and the new landscape we see before us brings new hope and new opportunities. We owe it to the people of Israel and Palestine to help their leaders seize this opportunity.
Liberal Democrats: Foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell
The Liberal Democrats opposed the war against Iraq, yet we believe that our participation has imposed a moral obligation on the United Kingdom to support the reconstruction and stabilisation of the country, and the establishment of a legitimate, representative government.
Nothing can excuse or justify the [terrorist] violence, which must be condemned. But the truth is that we would not have been in this situation without major strategic misjudgements by the Coalition. It was a grave error to have disbanded the Iraqi army and police, and to have failed, for so long, to engage in the recruitment, training and equipping of Iraqi security forces.
The Coalition also failed, for several months, to establish the Iraqi Governing Council and CPA; in the ensuing power vacuum political and administrative authority became fractured and localised, and political mobilisation is now centred on ethnic, faith and tribal identities.
Now and over the course of the year, in anticipation of the next set of elections, all efforts must be made at a local and national level to encourage Sunni participation. Reducing the violence and enhancing political stability should be the first priorities of the new government.
These comments are edited versions of articles which first appeared in The House Magazine.
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