Press Release

  Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, As chair of the AHLC I would like to thank France, President Sarkozy and Minister Kouchner, for hosting the conference, and I would like to thank our co-chairs, Quartet Representative Tony Blair and the European Commission and Commissioner Ferrero Waldner, for excellent cooperation over the last months. I would also express my appreciation to the surge of support signified by the broad range of delegations present here today. In particular, I welcome the strong presence from governments of the region. Let me then thank the PA for presenting a well-...

" Yesterday, on the 18 November 2007 the Norwegian Government and the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed an agreement worth USD 31 million in budget support to the Palestinian people. The support is a direct follow-up of the announcement by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) meeting in New York in September to provide budget support to the PA. The support will cover salaries and recurrent expenditures within the public civil service, including civil police. This will help the PA pay salaries and deliver basic services to its own population in a...

The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) chaired by Norway met at UN Headquarters today.

Giverlandsgruppen, også kalt Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), som Norge leder møttes i dag i FNs hovedkvarter i New York.

  “We have a responsibility to help the more than 30 000 refugees who have fled from the Nahr al-Bared camp. The refugees need more help now after the protracted fighting in the camp,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The Government is providing an additional NOK 10 million in humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees from the Nahr al-Bared camp. The violent clashes between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam in the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared have  caused extensive damage. More than 90% of the camp has been totally destroyed. Together with the United Nati...

“Norway is deeply concerned about the crisis in the Palestinian Territory and condemns the use of violence as a political tool. Continued use of violence will strengthen destructive and extremist forces throughout the Middle East,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. “Norway’s support to the Palestinian people will be continued. This entails continued support to President Mahmoud Abbas as the democratically elected head of the Palestinian Authority. Because of the widespread violence, the President decided to declare a state of emergency and request Salam Fayad, who was Finance Minister...

“Israel has the right to defend itself, but we call for restraint,” said Foreign Minister Støre. “The continual rocket attacks against Israel are unacceptable, but an Israeli escalation of the situation will strengthen the position of the destructive and extremist factions in Palestinian society. “In a number of talks with Palestinian leaders during the past few days, I have underscored that it is the Unity Government’s responsibility to bring the security situation under control. “The recent unrest in Gaza has a number of causes. There is an internal struggle for power, signs of social dis...

“The direct involvement of actors in the region is crucial if the many, interrelated conflicts in the Middle East are to be resolved. The Arab peace initiative proposed in 2002, which is being discussed in Riyadh today (28 March), is therefore of great significance,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The Foreign Minister stressed the importance of the strong, unifying regional engagement that we are now witnessing in the Middle East. “It was the support and engagement of the Arab countries that led to the formation of a Palestinian National Unity Government. And the Arab initiative of...

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre takes note of the fact that Israel has called off today’s meetings with State Secretary Raymond Johansen. “In my view it would have been useful for us to have an opportunity to discuss the situation directly with the Israeli authorities,” said the Foreign Minister. Israel’s cancellation of the meeting did not come as a surprise as the Israelis have responded in a similar fashion previously. “Despite the fact that Norway disagrees with Israel’s view of the new Palestinian Government, we respect Israel’s standpoint. Nonetheless we maintain that differences of...