THE TELEGRAPH: Foreign Office says it is ‘appalled’ by claims UN workers were involved in Hamas massacre of Israelis
Britain has suspended its funding for the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) after 12 of its employees were accused of taking part in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Foreign Office said it was “appalled” by the claims as it followed the United States, Canada, Australia and Italy in putting its funding on hold.
Israel has vowed to ban the UNRWA from operating in Gaza once the war is over after the agency sacked the workers on Friday.
Foreign Office documents show Britain has given UNRWA £27 million in aid since October 2022.
A memorandum of understanding between the Foreign Office and UNRWA shows Britain planned to hand it a further £2 million on April 15 and £9 million on October 1 this year.
But the Foreign Office has now said it is “temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations”.
“We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it,” it added. » | Tim Sigsworth and Edward Malnick, Sunday Political Editor | Saturday, January 27, 2024
Showing posts with label Foreign Office. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Office. Show all posts
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Friday, May 17, 2019
UK Advises Dual Nationals against All Travel to Iran
The UK has upgraded its travel advice to British-Iranian dual nationals, for the first time advising against all travel to Iran.
The advice also urges Iranian nationals living in the UK to exercise caution if they decide to travel to Iran.
The latest tightening of the Foreign Office travel advice comes in the wake of the sentencing of Aras Amiri, an Iranian national who worked for the British Council in London, to 10 years in jail on charges of spying for the UK. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Friday, May 17, 2019
Friday, July 22, 2016
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Tunisia Attack: Foreign Office Says 15 Britons Killed and Death Toll May Rise
Fifteen Britons have died in the Tunisian beach massacre but the toll could rise further, the Foreign Office has said, in what it called “the most significant terrorist attack on the British people” since 7 July 2005.
The number of British holidaymakers confirmed to have been killed by the lone gunman on Friday rose steadily on Saturday.
The prime minister, David Cameron, warned earlier that the UK public needed to be prepared for the total to rise.
A total of 39 people were killed, including one Irish woman, with one Belgian and a German also among the victims.
Planes evacuating holidaymakers began arriving back in the UK on Saturday morning. Speaking in Downing Street, Cameron said a full deployment team of consular staff, police and experts from the Red Cross would arrive in Tunisia on Saturday to help the victims and their families and added that the government was doing all they could to help them. » | Jessica Elgot, Chris Johnston and agencies | Saturday, June 27, 2015
Saturday, June 01, 2013
Sunday, July 29, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Foreign Office is investigating reports that British citizens are among Islamist fighters who kidnapped a British photographer and his Dutch colleague in northern Syria.
John Cantlie and Dutchman Jeroen Oerlemans were held by the group for a week after they accidentally came across their camp while crossing the border from south east Turkey to report on the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
During their time in captivity they were threatened with death unless they converted to Islam, and both were shot and slightly wounded when they attempted to flee barefoot. They were freed on Thursday night after a group of Free Syrian Army soldiers turned up the camp and angrily demanded that they be released.
Mr Cantlie has not yet spoken of his ordeal, but Mr Oerlemans told Dutch media that some of the gang, which is reported to have been between 30 and 100 strong, had "Birmingham accents".
A source close to the incident told The Sunday Telegraph that there possibly at least six men with British-sounding voices, including one with a heavy south London accent. Read on and comment » | Colin Freeman, Antakya | Saturday, July 28, 2012
Thursday, September 29, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: US government issues warning that terrorists may be planning to abduct westerners in Riyadh
The Foreign Office reminded Britons in Saudi Arabia to remain vigilant after the US government warned that terrorists may be planning to abduct westerners in Riyadh. » | Press association | Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
BBC: British citizens are being urged to leave Syria unless they have a "pressing need to remain" there, following weeks of unrest.
The Foreign Office "strongly advises" Britons to leave because of the "rapid deterioration" in law and order.
It says the British Embassy may not be able to provide normal consular assistance if the situation worsens.
At least 100 people have died in the last two days of protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.
'Better way'
The Foreign Office advised British nationals to leave the country while commercial airlines were still flying.
Earlier this week, the UK advised Britons to consider leaving Syria but has now stepped up the warning. It also advises against all travel to the country. » | Sunday, April 24, 2011
Friday, April 01, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Foreign Office says people should get out of Yemen while commercial airlines are still flyingAll British nationals have been urged to leave Yemen in the run-up to protests planned for Friday which could result in violent clashes.
The Foreign Office said that, "in light of the rapid deterioration in the security situation", people should get out while commercial airlines were still flying.
It said it was highly unlikely that it would be able to evacuate British nationals in the event of increased disorder.
A statement read: "In light of the rapid deterioration in the security situation in Yemen and likely protests on Friday 1 April which might result in violent clashes, we strongly urge all British nationals to leave the country now while commercial airlines are still flying. » | Press Association | Friday, April 01, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – DAMIAN THOMPSON: Britain’s plans to increase foreign aid to Pakistan while the country turns a blind eye to religious persecution is “tantamount to an anti-Christian foreign policy”, says Cardinal Keith O’Brien. Needless to say, those words “tantamount to” haven’t made it into many news reports, but they weren’t intended to. He knows how to grab a headline, does +Keith Patrick, unlike his risk-averse opposite number in Westminster.
Still, “tantamount to” is actually right. Britain is not deliberately pursuing an anti-Christian foreign policy. But we don’t waste time worrying about foreign Christians when we’re distributing largesse to Islamic countries that make life hell for non-Muslim minorities. Continue reading and comment » Damian Thompson | Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: • SAS on standby to rescue trapped Britons • Leader says Libya will be 'red with fire'
British officials are contacting senior Libyan regime figures directly to persuade them to desert Muammar Gaddafi or face trial alongside him for crimes against humanity, the Guardian has learned.
With SAS troops and paratroopers on standby to rescue an estimated 150 Britons at workplaces in the Libyan desert, contingency measures were being drawn up to close the British embassy in Tripoli to pre-empt possible reprisals.
But the Foreign Office denied reports that the embassy would be closed as soon as this weekend. "We will react to the situation as it unfolds on the ground. If it gets too dangerous for our people to be there, of course we will pull them out of there. But are we planning to close the embassy down? No," a spokesman said. The US said it was closing its embassy in Tripoli as well as imposing limited unilateral sanctions on Libya.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, urged Britons still in Tripoli to board the last UK-sponsored chartered flight out of the capital at first light. He said HMS Cumberland would return to Benghazi on Sunday to pick up any remaining Britons there, but added that those in the desert remained Britain's biggest worry. All options were being considered, he said.
There were reports that two RAF helicopters had arrived in Malta in what may be the next stage of preparations to airlift some UK oil workers.
Britain's direct warnings to Libyan officials coincided with a joint British and French draft UN security council resolution the Libyan leadership to face war crimes prosecutions at the international criminal court for attacks on protesters. The resolution also called for travel bans and asset freezes for Libya's leaders.
Gaddafi showed no sign of heeding the warnings. Reports said that gunmen in cars in the capital, Tripoli, opened fire on protesters as they emerged from Friday prayers.
Nearby, in Green Square, the Libyan leader made another defiant televised appearance, promising to arm his supporters. "Retaliate against them, retaliate against them," he told a crowd of loyalists from the ramparts of a crusader fort overlooking the square. "Dance, sing and prepare. Prepare to defend Libya, to defend the oil, dignity and independence."
Wearing a fur-lined cap and sunglasses, and flanked by bodyguards, Gaddafi declared: "At the suitable time we will open the arms depot so all Libyans and tribes become armed, so that Libya becomes red with fire." >>> Patrick Wintour and Julian Borger | Friday, February 25, 2011
Saturday, July 10, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: William Hague was under pressure to sack Britain's ambassador to the Lebanon last night after she heaped praise on the spiritual leader of the terrorist group Hezbollah.
In an extraordinary 'personal statement' on the Foreign Office website, Frances Guy paid tribute to Sheikh Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, who inspired a string of terrorist attacks against Israel and the West.
Fadlullah, who died last weekend at the age of 74, became infamous in 1983 amid claims he had personally authorised the truck bombing of two barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French paratroopers.
He was also behind the kidnapping of dozens of hostages, including Terry Waite, John McCarthy and Brian Keenan. He recently issued a fatwa legitimising suicide bombing.
But writing on the Foreign Office website this week Miss Guy, Britain's ambassador to the Lebanon since 2006, hailed Fadlallah as a 'true man of religion' and said he was the man she admired the most.
Under the headline 'The passing of a decent man', she wrote: 'If I was sad to hear the news (of his death), I know other people's lives will be truly blighted.
'The world needs more men like him, willing to reach out across faiths, acknowledging the reality of the modern world and daring to confront old constraints. May he rest in peace.' >>> Jason Groves and Matthew Kalman | Saturday, July 10, 2010
Related:
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain's Lebanese Ambassador Praises Hizbollah Founder >>> Damien McElroy and Adrian Bloomfield in Jerusalem | Thursday, July 08, 2010
Friday, July 09, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain's ambassador to Lebanon has been condemned by victims of Middle East terror groups for writing an appreciation of the spiritual leader of Hizbollah who masterminded the 1980s Lebanese hostage crisis.
Frances Guy, who has been ambassador since 2008, wrote a blog marking the death of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah who died last week. She described the ayatollah as a "decent" man who ranked as the person she most admired out of all those she had encountered.
Hizbollah has been proscribed by the UK as a terrorist organisation since 2008.
Ayatollah Fadlallah was a hugely divisive figure in the Middle East. He help found the Hizbollah movement that fought the American intervention in Lebanon and then went on to take dozens of foreigners as hostages, including Terry Waite, John McCarthy and Brian Keenan.
Fatwas or religious instructions issued by Fadlallah authorised suicide bombers who attacked American troops or Israel. Hizbollah carried out the 1983 suicide bomb attacks that killed more 300 people at the US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.
"If I was sad to hear the news I know other peoples' lives will be truly blighted," she wrote. "The world needs more men like him willing to reach out across faiths, acknowledging the reality of the modern world and daring to confront old constraints. May he rest in peace."
The Israeli government said it was astounded that an official representative of the British government had not remembered the devastation caused by fighters loyal to Fadlallah. >>> Damien McElroy and Adrian Bloomfield in Jerusalem | Thursday, July 08, 2010
BBC: Israel has criticised Britain's ambassador to Lebanon for eulogising a recently deceased Lebanese cleric said to have inspired Hezbollah.
Frances Guy wrote on her personal blog that Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was a "decent man" who rated among the people she most admired.
An Israeli spokesman said Ayatollah Fadlallah was "unworthy of praise".
The UK foreign office says it has taken down the blog after "mature consideration".
It said the comments reflected Ms Guy's personal opinion, not official UK policy.
Ayatollah Fadlallah, Lebanon's top Shia Muslim cleric, died on Sunday at the age of 74. Thousands of people attended his funeral in Beirut and tributes poured in from all over the Arab and Islamic worlds.
Two days ago, CNN sacked a veteran Middle East editor who wrote on Twitter that she "respected" the late cleric, saying that her credibility had been compromised. >>> | Friday, July 09, 2010
YNET NEWS: In personal blog, Britain's ambassador to Lebanon calls Hezbollah spiritual leader 'decent man'
Britain's ambassador to Lebanon surprised many people in London and Beirut Thursday by venerating Hezbollah's recently deceased spiritual leader.
In her personal blog, Frances Guy wrote that Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was "a decent man". Israel's Foreign Ministry said in response later that Fadlallah is "unworthy of praise". >>> Roee Nahmias | Thursday, July 08, 2010
Frances Guy should be given her marching orders forthwith, as was Octavia Nasr by CNN for coming out with a similar stupid statement. Frances Guy should not be allowed to represent Her Majesty’s government. – © Mark
Thursday, May 06, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Tourists visiting Greece have been warned to exercise "extreme caution" as the country's parliament prepares to vote on austerity cuts to tackle the financial crisis.
The Foreign Office advice came a day after three bank workers died in a petrol bomb attack as demonstrations against the hefty cuts turned violent.
President Karolos Papoulias warned that Greece was on the "brink of the abyss" hours before the parliament was due to vote on the austerity measures.
Bank workers went on strike on Thursday to protest the fatal attack that left three dead in the worst clashes Athens has seen since the country disclosed that it had covered up a black hole of £272 billion in debt.
Mr Papoulias's government has promised to carry out strict spending cuts - a condition of a 110 billion euro (£95 billion) bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which is aimed at preventing the spread of the debt crisis throughout Europe.
The Greek parliament will vote on Thursday night on proposed wage freezes, pension cuts and tax rises. >>> | Thursday, May 06, 2010
Thursday, September 24, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: A senior civil servant is facing the sack today after being found guilty of shouting that Israelis should be “blown off the f***ing earth” while exercising in a gym.
Rowan Laxton, 48, head of the South Asia desk of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was watching a television report about the death of a farmer killed by Israeli bombs when he exclaimed: “F***ing Israelis, f***ing Jews”.
Fellow gym members Gideon Falter and William Lemaine, who were on a lower floor using weights, overheard Laxton, who was on an exercise bike, and complained to staff at the gym.
The incident, which took place at the London Business School gym in January, was described by Laxton’s counsel as a “moment of madness”.
Julian Knowles said: “It is a cliché, but it’s a cliché that fits in this situation.
“It was a moment of madness for Mr Laxton, which is going to have very grave and long-term consequences.”
Mr Falter claimed that he also heard Laxton say: “If I had my way, the f***ing international community should be sent in, and if the Israelis got in the way, they’d be blown off the f***ing earth.”
Laxton denied saying that, however, and told Mr Falter that he was sorry if he had offended him.
Laxton previously told the court that he was embarrassed by what happened and was aware he had embarrassed the Foreign Office.
He said during an earlier hearing: “We are all human. I erred. I don’t normally swear.”
Laxton also said “f***ing despicable” while watching the television report and admitted that it was an “unhelpful and gratuitous comment”. >>> Adam Fresco, Crime Correspondent | Thursday, September 24, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
SKY NEWS: British tourists travelling to India have been warned to be on their guard amid reports of a terrorist plot against Westerners.
Pakistani militants are planning a wave of strikes at tourist sites including Delhi, Mumbai and Goa in the south, according to reports.
The Foreign Office updated its travel advice - advising travellers to be extra vigilant on days of national significance including Diwali on October 17.
The level of threat remains unchanged at "high".
The warning follows news that Israel has warned its citizens to avoid the country completely.
According to Israeli media - including the country's Channel Two - intelligence sources believe al Qaeda operatives are planning to target Western and Jewish tourists.
The plots are said to be styled on the attacks in Mumbai last November when 10 gunmen went on the rampage.
Mumbai's anti-terrorism force said they had been liaising with Israel over the intelligence. >>> | Friday, September 18, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
MAIL ONLINE: Ministers were branded ‘corrupt’ this evening for agreeing a secret deal with Libya that will make it impossible to bring the killer of a British policewoman to justice in the UK.
In a new favour for the Gaddafi regime, the Foreign Office agreed to drop their demands to try the murderer of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, who was gunned down outside the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984.
The deal was signed off by Justice Secretary Jack Straw three years ago, when he was Foreign Secretary -- at a time when Britain was negotiating trade and oil deals with the regime in Tripoli.
A year later, Mr Straw also agreed to include the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya, in a bid to preserve a lucrative oil contract between BP and the regime in Tripoli.
Details of the secret deal sparked claims that the government is letting the Libyans ‘get away with murder’.
Ministers stand accused of misleading the family of WC Fletcher, who have campaigned for 25 years to have her killer handed over for trial in Britain.
Queenie Fletcher, Yvonne’s mother said yesterday she had not been told about a deal. ‘They should have informed us. We were never told they’d agreed to this. No, never.’ Government's secret deal with Gaddafi saved killer of WPC Yvonne Fletcher from UK trial >>> Tim Shipman and Stephen Wright | Sunday, September 13, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
THE INDEPENDENT: In dealing with Libya the Foreign Office has been guilty of institutional cringe
In this, the week of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, British newspapers have published entire supplements, setting out once again how the policy of appeasing dictators showed a complete failure to understand the gangster psychology of totalitarian regimes.
Yet the unravelling tale of our current government's negotiations with the regime of Col Gaddafi is a more enthrallingly contemporary illustration of the unchanging institutional cringe known as the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office. We have learned – chiefly through the medium of government memos leaked to the Sunday Times – how the Foreign Office saw the release from Scottish custody of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, as a way of earning us good favour in the court of Megrahi's patron and distant relative, Muammar Gaddafi.
In some of these memos you can hear the sound of Foreign Office ministers past and present patting themselves on the back for the results of their negotiations. There is much discussion of the alleged trade benefits, notably a deal between BP and Libya. But two days ago the Libyan Europe Minister, Abdulati al-Obeidi, admitted to that outstanding foreign correspondent Hala Jaber that even if the British Government had set its face against the release of Megrahi, it was "highly unlikely" that the deal with BP would have been cancelled: "Libya also looks out for its interests and to cease the BP deal is not in our interests." Indeed so: last week we learned of BP's astonishing discovery of a 3 billion-barrel oilfield 35,000ft below the Gulf of Mexico seabed, far and away the deepest well ever drilled. If you were the Libyan regime you would very much want the company with such technological leadership helping you to find oil on your territory.
There is a more particular sense in which the Foreign Office has played the hand of the appeaser in its negotiations. The Libyans had made dark noises about the likely reaction of their own population should Megrahi die in Scottish custody – something along the lines of "in such an eventuality we cannot guarantee the safety of British citizens in Libya". This unsubtle threat should have been greeted with the observation that it was the responsibility of the Libyan Government to ensure the safety of innocent British citizens on its territory. Instead we seem to have behaved like the weak tradesman confronted by an unscrupulous protection racketeer.
It is, of course, very embarrassing when craven behaviour comes to light via a leaked memo to the Sunday Times. Hence Gordon Brown's overnight conversion to the idea of asking the Foreign Office to assist with the claims for compensation of the victims of IRA bombs constructed from Semtex provided by Libya – having earlier told the victims' lawyers that the Government could have nothing to do with their campaign.
Yet this attempt to regain the high moral ground is even more contemptible than the decision to leave those victims of Libyan Semtex out of the original deal. When Britain and America did their separate deals over the reopening of normal relations with Gaddafi's regime, the Americans insisted that their own victims of Libyan-backed IRA atrocities be financially compensated; the British made no such demands, essentially declaring that bygones are bygones. >>> Dominic Lawson | Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: A Foreign Office minister told Libya in February this year that Gordon Brown did not want the Lockerbie bomber to die in jail, according to an official minute released today.
Abdulati Alobidi, the Libyan Minister for Europe, told how he had warned Bill Rammell, a Foreign Office Minister visiting Tripoli, that Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi should not be allowed to die in a Scottish prison.
"Mr Alobidi confirmed that he had reiterated to Mr Rammell that the death of Mr Megrahi in a Scottish prison would have catastrophic effects for the relationship between Libya and the UK," the note released by the Scottish government said.
"Mr Alobidi went on to say that Mr Rammell had stated that neither the Prime Minister nor the Foreign Secretary would want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison but the decision on transfer lies in the hands of the Scottish ministers."
The note relates to a meeting in March between Scottish officials and a Libyan government delegation including Mr Alobidi. >>> Philippe Naughton | Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
BBC: The Foreign Office is in talks with the Iranian ambassador in London after his country's supreme leader called the UK government "evil".
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the comments as he appealed for an end to protests about election results.
He said Western nations were showing "their enmity against the Islamic Republic system and the most evil of them is the British government".
Ambassador Rasul Movaheddian is meeting officials at the Foreign Office now.
Officials want to register their displeasure at Ayatollah Khamenei's comments and find out why he made them.
BBC News website world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says that the summoning of the Iranian ambassador represents a shift of position by the British government which up until now had wanted to avoid getting involved in public arguments with Iran.
He added: "The line had been that it wanted to avoid giving the Iranians any reason to blame Britain for interfering. The US government has taken a similar view.
"However, Ayatollah Khamenei's description of Britain as the most 'evil' of foreign governments was a step too far."
British diplomats are thought to believe Britain is being used as "proxy" for the United States, because Iran does not want to endanger its improving relations with America.
In his first public remarks after days of demonstrations, Ayatollah Khamenei issued a stern warning that protests against the country's disputed presidential election results must end. >>> | Friday, June 19, 2009
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