British government welcomes the Arab peace initiative

The official spokesman for the British government Gerald Rassel, who is also in charge of the Islamic media unit at the British foreign office highly appreciated the Arab peace initiative, stressing his country's welcome of this initiative because it shows the whole world the good intention of the Arab side.

In a statement to the Lebanese daily al-Mustaqbal issued on Tuesday, Rassel described the situation in the region under the Sharon government as bad.

Concerning what is going on in the occupied Palestinian territories, Rassel indicated that conditions there are drastic, even before the launching of the Palestinian Intifada. He said that the situation requires to be interfered in and dealt with and to have a well- studied European role in order to end the sufferings of the Palestinian people.

He stressed the need of establishing an independent Palestinian state and finding out a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian question.

He indicated that the Europeans do not recognize the Israeli sovereignty on Jerusalem and that the rights of the Palestinians in this city should be honored.

Rassel, on the other hand, stressed that Islam is a great and peaceful religion and nobody should believe that this religion is hostile for others. He called for continued dialogue between the European Culture and the Islamic culture.