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Middle East

I am pleased to have this opportunity to respond to my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne). I congratulate him on securing this debate. On these issues his passion, commitment, integrity and understanding are apparent to all who know him and came through clearly in his contribution. Lebanon and the middle east peace process continue to be an extraordinarily high priority for this Government, as well being as a subject of great interest to hon. Members in all parties in the House, particularly in the run-up to the Lebanese parliamentary elections in June. The UK is strongly committed to stability in Lebanon and the wider region. We signalled this commitment to the President of Lebanon during his visit to the UK last month, where we emphasised that his role in providing constitutional continuity and promoting reconciliation in Lebanon sets a positive example for the whole region. Before I come to the specific policy on Hezbollah, it is important that it is set in its proper context. Since the political vacuum of May 2008, there have been welcome improvements in Lebanon: the Doha accord, the election of President Suleiman, the formation of a national unity Government and ongoing national dialogue and reconciliation. We wanted those things to happen and it would be wrong if we did not acknowledge that that has taken place. These promising developments are supported by a greater movement towards stability in the region. Diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria, reconciliation between Syria and Saudi Arabia and the recent reports of movement on the Israeli-occupied Ghajar farms will help to provide a supportive atmosphere for the upcoming parliamentary elections. That is certainly our hope and our intention. The UK is committed to fair, democratic parliamentary elections and has been supporting that process through projects costing almost £200,000. However, despite these developments there remain outstanding issues of deep concern, which my hon. Friend has mentioned: the proliferation of weapons and armed groups and failure to make concrete progress on issues, including the Israeli-occupied Sheba'a farms and the situation in Palestinian refugee camps. Hezbollah, in particular, continues to maintain a substantial independent military capacity—my hon. Friend mentioned that—and claims of more sophisticated technology and news of developments in Egypt add to the urgency of resolving these issues. Our policy towards Hezbollah sits in the context of these improvements on one hand, and ongoing concerns on the other. But before I address that question, let me state clearly we have no illusions about Hezbollah. The aim of our policy is for that organisation to change and for it to reject violence, disarm and engage constructively, democratically and peacefully in Lebanese politics, in line with UN Security Council resolutions. In order to achieve this, our policy therefore has two strands. First, and most importantly, we take a strong position against any support for terrorism. In July 2008, we extended our proscription of Hezbollah from the external security organisation to its entire military wing. That was absolutely the right thing to do. It is fair to say that that puts us at the tough end of the spectrum within the European Union We continue to urge disarmament and to highlight the destabilising effect of an independent militia in the region. Most recently, we highlighted our strong concern at the UN consultations on UN Security Council resolution 1559 when we argued that it was essential to tackle the proliferation of weapons and armed groups, with particular reference to Hezbollah, to ensure long-term stability in the region. We also discussed the issue with the President of Lebanon during his recent visit to this country. My hon. Friend asked about funding for Hezbollah and allegations that funding comes through London. I am sure that he and other hon. Members understand that because of the sensitive nature of the question, I am not in a position to confirm or deny funding of Hezbollah in the UK, but I can assure my hon. Friend that the UK is at the forefront of global action to combat the financing of terrorism. Terrorist financing is fully criminalised under the Terrorism Act 2000, and following a recent evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force, the international body which sets the standards for tackling money laundering and terrorist finance, the UK gained more "fully compliant" ratings of its work in this area than any other country assessed to date. That emphasises our real commitment to that crucial issue. Secondly, alongside that tough stance, we are exploring the possibility of limited and considered contacts with Hezbollah's politicians, and my hon. Friend referred to that. That means contacts only—I emphasise "only"—with those members of Hezbollah who are legitimately involved in Lebanese politics, and not with those who are involved in violence and terrorism. We are open to serious discussion with Hezbollah's MPs on the same basis as MPs from other factions in Lebanon. Hezbollah's MPs have condemned violence and assassinations, and called for calm and restraint in the run-up to the Lebanese parliamentary elections. On 25 February 2009, the weekly meeting of Hezbollah's MPs concluded that the""circulation of a calm climate...and the contribution in controlling and easing of tensions, is a responsibility to be shared by all officials, forces and reference authorities in all regions and by all confessions and sides"." We strongly welcome that, and have been pressing for such statements, but it must now be carried through into reality. Such contacts provide the opportunity to speak frankly and directly with Hezbollah politicians about the party's wider actions that threaten regional stability and the peace process. In doing so, we will gain greater insight into their objectives and can pass on clear, firm messages seeking to influence Hezbollah's actions. That is an example of our strong, principled diplomacy and engagement. It is also important to put that change of policy into context. To date, there has been only one meeting. On 9 January, our ambassador in Beirut attended a meeting of British parliamentarians with the Lebanese Foreign Affairs Committee. Representatives of all members of the national unity Government were present, including one MP from Hezbollah's political wing, Ali Amar. During that meeting, our ambassador took the opportunity to urge all sides to show restraint during the crisis in Gaza, and referred to the importance of them respecting the terms of UN Security Council resolution 1701. No further meetings have been arranged, but any future contacts will be carefully considered and decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. As my hon. Friend and I have discussed privately, we are apprising ourselves of the new political situation in Lebanon and tentatively exploring step-by-step contact with Hezbollah MPs who are not involved in and reject violence. We are interested only in serious dialogue with Hezbollah about issues of national importance to Lebanon and the region. We will avoid any engagement with Hezbollah that causes publicity that might interfere with the upcoming Lebanese election. I assure my hon. Friend that, as he has urged us to do, we will continue to keep that policy under review and to take developments into account. My hon. Friend asked specifically about the distinction between which Hezbollah representatives we will and will not speak to. Our distinction is between those who are legitimately involved in Lebanese politics and those who are involved in violence and support for terrorism. We will rightly take a pragmatic approach by speaking to known moderate political figures who, to the best of our knowledge, have no links to acts of violence. In addition, we are trying to improve stability in Lebanon and to prevent arms smuggling more generally in the region. First, we are working with our regional partners, and calling on the Governments of both Syria and Iran to cease their support for Hezbollah. During my recent visit to Syria—my hon. Friend asked me about it—I discussed the matter with Syrian Foreign Minister Muallem, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised it with President Assad during his visit to Syria in November 2008. We have serious concerns about Iranian support for Hezbollah. Such support is unacceptable, in contravention of the arms embargo established by UN Security Council resolution 1701, and serves only to undermine regional security. We are strongly communicating that message to the Syrian Government, as well as the Iranian Government, although the degree to which they have influence is still open to question. Secondly, we have provided some £800,000 over two years to the internationally supported northern border pilot project, which aims to secure the border between Lebanon and Syria. On Lebanon's southern border we are supporting the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies with a grant of £100,000 over two years to increase UNIFIL's capacity to manage, mediate and resolve localised conflict with the communities of southern Lebanon. I saw some of that work during my visit to Lebanon last year, and it is contributing to the way forward. Through those policies, we aim to improve Lebanon's security, to increase its sovereignty and to work to achieve long-term durable stability in the region and beyond. It is important to emphasise—my hon. Friend did not raise this today, but he and other hon. Members have raised it with me privately—that there is no read-across from that policy to Hamas. Our policies must reflect the specific circumstances of the Lebanese and Palestinian political contexts. We have no contact with Hamas, and we do not believe that it is productive to talk to it directly at the moment. The Arab League has mandated Egypt to communicate with Hamas. As long as Hamas fails to subscribe to a two-state solution and fundamentally to reject violence, it is difficult to see how it can be part of the solution. If and when the Palestinians form a Government of national consensus, we will look carefully at their exact composition and programme before making any decisions on engagement. My hon. Friend asked for this debate on Hezbollah in Lebanon and the middle east peace process, and was right to highlight the regional context and the importance of the process in the middle east. The Government are fundamentally committed to pursuing a comprehensive peace based on a two-state solution. A comprehensive approach to the middle east peace process will bring stability to the wider region, and political stability throughout the world. That means developing a solution on the Israel-Syria track, addressing concerns about Iranian intentions, and ensuring stability in Lebanon. Within that, the international community has a hugely important role to play. We must redouble our efforts to make a two-state solution a reality. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made those points at the UN Security Council yesterday, and we will continue to work with our international partners towards that goal. We are at a timely juncture in the affairs of the middle east. Some people are pessimistic, but there are hopes and opportunities. President Obama and the new US Government are more committed to pursuing peace in the middle east than any US Administration in recent times. We must engage with the new Israeli Government and support the Arab peace initiative, and we need to see some response from the Israeli Government, particularly on settlements. I hope that with support from the international community, we can drive the process forward and move from a debate about a middle east peace process to a plan for implementation that can bring prosperity, peace and security for all. I again congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate, and on his commitment to the issue, which is clear for all to see.