Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Saudi Bombing, Amir of Qatar, Ministerial Changes, Euro and 2012 Olympic Games.
Saudi Bombing
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we were watching the news unfold from Saudi Arabia today with deep concern. The Prime Minister strongly condemned the horrific attack and had expressed his sympathy for the families of those who had been killed and injured. The number of Britons who had been hurt was thought to be relatively small at this stage. The bombings illustrated the indiscriminate nature of such attacks. If the aim had been to kill Americans, Americans had indeed been killed - and that was an absolute outrage. But the fatalities had also included a large number of people of different nationalities, many of them Muslim, which was equally outrageous. It underlined once again the need for international security co-operation. At the same time we needed to address those issues, such as the Middle East, which the terrorists wanted to exploit in the full knowledge that any political progress would rob them of their ‘case’, which they falsely tried to exploit.
Asked why the Middle East should be relevant in a situation where terrorists had decided to attack Americans, the PMOS said there was no doubt that extremists, such as those behind this and other attacks, used every means possible to exploit the tension over issues such as the Israeli/Palestinian question in order to attempt to justify their attacks in the minds of other Arabs and the Muslim world. It went without saying that these issues needed to be addressed in their own right first and foremost - and one of the benefits in doing so was that we would be able to take away the pseudo-justification which organisations like Al Qaida appeared to use to justify their attacks. It was therefore necessary to adopt a twin-track approach, namely enhanced international security plus the need to address political issues.
In answer to questions, the PMOS said that the picture on the ground was very confused. Staff at the Embassy in Riyadh were working very closely with the Saudi authorities, as you would expect. At this stage, the number of Britons who had been injured in the attack appeared to be small. Asked if the Prime Minister believed Al Qaida was responsible, the PMOS said details were still coming in about what had happened, but we were aware of the speculation. Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the Saudis had taken sufficient measures to protect overseas visitors, the PMOS pointed out that the Saudi authorities had taken action against a suspected Al Qaida terrorist group last week. We were continuing to work with the Saudis to tackle the scourge of international terrorism. At the moment, however, we had to wait for the picture to become a little clearer before coming to any firm conclusions.
Asked if the Prime Minister was being given specific briefings on the incident, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was being kept up to date as details emerged, as you would expect. Asked if he had any plans to discuss the attacks with President Bush, the PMOS said he was not aware of any plans for him to do so at this stage.
Asked if the Foreign Office would be changing its travel advice to UK nationals visiting Saudi Arabia and whether the guidance would be extended to Britons visiting other countries in the region, the PMOS said that advice was always given on the basis of our assessment of the threat to security. It varied according to changes in circumstances. As a result of last night’s attack, we would obviously keep the travel guidance under review. He pointed out that the Foreign Office had in fact changed its advice on 2 May to reflect the strong warning of possible attacks on western interests in the country.
Asked if yesterday’s attacks meant that the Government would now do more to help British nationals currently held in Saudi prisons on trumped up charges of terrorism and bootlegging, the PMOS said that each case needed to be handled individually. We understood what the families of those being held were going through. We also recognised that there were differences of view among them concerning the best way to handle each case. We were continuing our efforts to achieve the best outcome possible for all involved as sensitively as we could.
Amir of Qatar
Asked about the Prime Minister’s meeting today with the Amir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the PMOS said that they had discussed the general situation in the Middle East following the conflict in Iraq, in addition to the Middle East peace process. The Amir would also be meeting the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Asked if the Prime Minister and Amir had discussed Al Jazeera, the PMOS said that given their shared interest in public opinion in the Arab world, the issue might have been mentioned in passing. It was important to recognise that Al Jazeera was an independent television station.
Ministerial Changes
Asked why the Prime Minister was taking so long to replace John Denham at the Home of Office and Lord Hunt at the Department of Health, the PMOS said that the reason the Prime Minister had announced the ministerial changes today was because the appointment of Baroness Amos yesterday had meant that DfID had no spokesman in the House of Commons, hence the decision to appoint Hilary Benn as a Minister of State. That in turn had opened up a vacancy in the Home Office which had been filled by Paul Goggins. The remaining ministerial vacancies would be filled in due course.
Euro
Asked if there were any plans to discuss the Euro at this week’s Cabinet, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware at this stage. Asked if that ruled out the possibility of an announcement in Parliament next week, the PMOS said that the issue would be discussed whenever it was appropriate to discuss it. Questioned as to whether a Special Cabinet might be convened to discuss the issue, the PMOS reminded journalists that it wasn’t his policy to answer hypothetical questions. Asked whether the announcement to Parliament would be made on the same day as the Cabinet discussion, the PMOS said he had no intention of getting drawn into the timetabling of any discussion or announcement because we were not at that point yet. Put to him that the Chancellor had said he would be making a Statement in the first week of June, the PMOS said that an announcement would be made when we were ready to do so.
2012 Olympic Games
Asked if Cabinet was expected this week to discuss the possibility of a London bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware at this stage.
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