British Foreign Minister Jack Straw will visit Israel and Palestinian territories next week to press the case for reviving the Middle East peace process, officials said on Friday. The death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the end of the U.S. election campaign have revived international efforts to try to resolve the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also visit Israel and the West Bank next week. "The foreign secretary wants to visit the region to see and hear for himself what the parties think the prospects are, given the context of a changing landscape," said a senior British official on Friday. The official said Straw would bring no new plans or initiatives to the table, but would stress Britain's view that the "road map", a plan for parallel concessions on both sides ending in a Palestinian state, remains the best approach. Straw will discuss prospects for the Palestinian presidential elections due to be held in January, and will offer British and European Union help to ensure they run smoothly. Straw also attends a conference on Iraq in Egypt next week.
