British Foreign Secretary makes peace pledge

British Foreign Secretary William Hague is hoping 2013 will be a "year of peace" for people in the Middle East. Hague met Nabil El-Araby, Secretary General of the Arab League on Monday. In a statement issued after the meeting, Hague said he wants to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through negotiation and reaffirmed UK’s support for a political transition in Syria.   Hague said, "I was pleased to welcome Mr Nabil El-Araby, Secretary General of the Arab League, to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We discussed the Middle East Peace Process and agreed that 2013 offers new opportunities to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by negotiation.  We expressed the shared hope that this year will be the ‘year of peace’ for Palestinians, Israelis and all people of the region.  We agreed that Arab League and EU member states needed to assist the Palestinian Authority to overcome its current financial difficulties and that Israel should fulfil its obligations to transfer customs revenues due to the Palestinian Authority. Hague also revealed discussions about Syria, with efforts being made to achieve a political transition and an end to the violence. "We reiterated our support for UN and Arab League Special Representative Brahimi’s efforts to advance a credible political solution to the crisis. The UK believes that President Assad can never recover legitimacy in the eyes of the Syrian people.  His latest promises of token reforms demonstrate his increasingly desperate attempts to hold on to power. As well as supporting a political transition the UK will continue our humanitarian assistance, our work to support those documenting human rights violations in Syria, and our non-lethal support for the Syrian opposition."