Middle East: There was no alternative for the Middle East other than the "road map" for establishing a Palestinian state side by side with Israel, a British Foreign Office minister, Mr Bill Rammell, said on a visit to Dublin yesterday.
"There are grave concerns at the moment. All of us have got to impress upon both sides really what's at stake and the seriousness of this. If the whole process unravels I'm not sure where we go from there. If the road map didn't exist, we would have to invent a similar kind of process."
He added: "It's incredibly difficult, given the recent terrorist attacks and responses, but people have got to take a step back and recognise that if it's not this route forward then the alternative is almost too bloody to think of."
The minister was in Dublin to take part in a Trinity College debate on the international role of the US. "The US is and can be a force for good in the world," Mr Rammell said. "On the really tough issues like proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and international terrorism, Europe ought to be closer to the US."
However, there were other issues where the US needed to move closer to the European position, such as participation in the International Criminal Court and the Kyoto Protocol. The British government was "trying to bring the two sides together".
He added: "We live in a very, very dangerous world, with threats of terror that are unprecedented, and if Europe and America aren't working together we've got real problems."
On Iraq, he said: "Sometimes there is a lack of willingness within the world's media and some sections of the international political community to recognise the progress that has been made. Schools are open . . ."