§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what reports he has received from Her Majesty's ambassadors in Tunis or Algiers about the public statement on 7 April by the Revolutionary Council of Al-Fatah, as broadcast at 17.02 hours GMT on Voice of Palestine, Algiers, which called for an increase in violence against Israel and absolute rejection of any participation in an American peace initiative; and if he will assess the effect this policy statement will have on implementation of the Venice declaration, as endorsed by Her Majesty's Government;
(2) whether, during the Minister of State's recent visit to middle eastern states, he discussed with his hosts the statement by Yasir Arafat in Baghdad on 3 January, as broadcast in Voice of Palestine at 16.15 hours GMT, that emphasis must be placed on increasing armed struggle by all available means, and also by Khalid Al-Wazir on the same occasion that armed struggle would remain the first strategy of Palestinian action; and whether his hosts indicated any steps that they could take to achieve acceptance by Mr. Arafat and his supporters of resolution 242.
§ Mr. LuceWe have noted statements by some Palestinian spokesmen in favour of armed struggle, but also wide Palestinian support for the Jordanian-Palestinian 59W agreement of 11 February, with its commitment to peaceful negotiations. In our view, all parties to the Arab-Israel dispute should make constructive moves towards negotiations at which the voice of the Palestinians would be heard.