§ Mr. LathamTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the purpose of the meeting between Her Majesty's ambassador in Tunis and Mr. Yasser Arafat, on 26 January, and whether the ambassador gave any recognition in the meeting to Mr. Arafat's claimed capacity as President of the state of Palestine.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe maintain a dialogue with the PLO on the middle east peace process at official level. Her Majesty's ambassador at Tunis has had a number of meetings with Mr. Arafat in this context. The latest of these was on 25 January. The United Kingdom does not recognise the so-called state of Palestine and therefore the question of recognising its "President" does not arise.