Britain's new Middle East remit

By Tim Franks
BBC Middle East correspondent

The man appointed to be the British government's new representative on the Middle East has called on Israel to make much more effort to improve life for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Michael Williams is currently the United Nations special adviser for the Middle East.

He takes up his new role next month.

Mr Williams is currently the UN special envoy

He said Britain should also take an active role in Iran and Syria - both countries with which the American administration has had little contact.

Michael Williams has just returned from a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the quiet and the cool of Government House in Jerusalem.

It is an appropriate place to see him, in both his current and future roles.

Government House is the headquarters of the United Nations mission for Israel and the Palestinian territories.

But in the three decades before 1948, and Israel's declaration of independence, it was the headquarters for British rule of Palestine.

For much of the last century, it is a place that has been responsible for and felt the tremors of much in the region.

Things look better than at any time over the last seven years Michael Williams

Michael Williams describes himself as "guardedly optimistic" about the diplomacy and the contacts between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

"Things look better than at any time over the last seven years," he says, although he concedes that "some would say that doesn't say too much".

He salutes what he calls the "extraordinarily strong personal rapport" between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

But Michael Williams says the trick now is to move the process on ahead of the big meeting called by the Americans for mid-November.

And on that, he has some tough words for the Israeli government.

Israel, he says, should have done more to sustain President Abbas, especially given the setback he suffered when the rival Palestinian faction of Hamas took control of Gaza.

"There have been some moves," he says, pointing to the release of 250 prisoners and some tax revenues.

But this, he says "is nowhere near enough. On key issues like the outposts, let alone the settlements in the West Bank, and the hundreds of checkpoints (manned by the Israeli army), we've seen no significant, indeed any real moves by the Israeli government."

British strengths

In his new role, which he takes up in the middle of next month, Michael Williams will no longer answer to the UN Secretary General, but to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

He will also rove much more across the region. It is crucial work, he believes.

Britain has a special place in this region, he says, because of its place on the UN Security Council and its long history here.

It's the view of the prime minister and the foreign secretary that we have to engage with countries such as Iran and Syria Michael Williams

More, though, the problems of the place resonate within the UK itself, with its Muslim population, and also because no region poses such a substantial threat to international peace and security.

Michael Williams is reluctant to be drawn directly into the debate as to whether British policy in the region has been too tightly tied to America's in recent years.

But when asked whether Britain might have a role going to places and talking to people the US and the European Union might have difficulty with, he suggests this could play to traditional British strengths.

"With Iran, unlike with the US, which broke diplomatic relations after the Iranian revolution of 1979, the United Kingdom has always had an active policy with regard to Iran."

Mr Williams points out that he went there five times between 2001 and 2004, in his role as special adviser to the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

"It's the view of the prime minister and the foreign secretary (David Miliband)," Mr Williams says, "that we have to engage with countries such as Iran and Syria."

Michael Williams has no doubt as to the extent of the challenge across the region. It is profound and it is pressing.

"One of the real dangers in the Middle East," he warns, "is the breakdown of state structures.

"In Iraq, in Lebanon, and to some extent in Gaza, [we're seeing] the breakdown of state structures and their replacement by militias, usually attached to extremist interpretations of Islam, and which don't shirk from using terrorism to a considerable extent."

The challenge for Britain and the international community he says, is to "combat this trend and see that it doesn't take hold right across the region".