LONDON, Jan 14 (KUNA) — Tackling the crisis in the Middle East will be the “first and most immediate” issue for US-Elect President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today.
The Prime Minister said he hoped to work “very closely” with Obama after he officially takes office on January 20.
As Israel’s offensive in Gaza continued for a 19th day, Labor former minister Nigel Griffiths asked Brown if he would work with the incoming President to secure a “lasting peace” in the region, and the Prime Minister replied “I have had the advantage of talking to President Obama about some of these issues.
“I think the whole House will want to welcome the new President when he comes in. We hope to work very closely with him.
“There are major international issues, the first and most immediate is the Middle East, and I believe the relationships between Britain and America will strengthen over the years.” On his part, Labor’s Jeremy Corbyn earlier accused Israel of committing war crimes and urged Brown to join calls to refer the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Corbyn said “the Israeli forces in the past three weeks have killed 1,000 people in Gaza, 300 of whom are children; denied medical aid; denied food; denied energy and blockaded the people during the last year.
Prime Minister Brown said “words cannot describe” how families would feel at the human cost of the conflict in Gaza but the international community was doing everything to secure a ceasefire.
The Prime Minister told MPs “we took action in drafting the resolution that went through the United Nations last week and words cannot describe the feeling that families will have as a child dies or at the level of civilian deaths and casualties, and the displacement of 90,000 people in Gaza.” He said the UN resolution had been backed because Arab countries were also prepared to take steps to end arms trafficking to Palestinian militants and to open border crossings.
The Prime Minister added “it is important that we have the Arab League countries as well as the other countries who signed that motion in support of us.
“In other words we are doing everything we can to make possible an immediate ceasefire.”