From Icelandic Prime Minister’s office

Delegations of Iceland and the United Kingdom have met in a friendly atmosphere in Reykjavík to discuss issues of mutual interest related to the current financial crisis, with the objective to reach a mutually satisfactory solution on the issues concerned.

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Jon Cunliffe, the Second Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury, and Managing Director of International and Finance Directorate in UK, sent a letter to Geir H. Haarde, Icelandic PM, earlier today.

Cunliffe was asked by Haarde to clarify the present attitude of the British Government towards Icelandic companies.

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Dear Geir,

I am writing to express my concern about the action taken by the Icelandic authorities in relation to the Icelandic banking system and I hope that this issue can be resolved as quickly as possible.

I am pleased to hear that you had a constructive telephone conversation with Alister Darling yesterday and that officials from Treasury, the Bank of England and the financial services authority and the financial services Compensation Scheme will visit Reykjavik for discussions today.

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During a meeting with the Icelandic Independence party this morning, PM Geir H. Haarde didn’t mince words about the British authorities. According to him, the British authorities had brought Iceland’s largest bank to its knees with their abuse of power this last week and that Iceland must look seriously into the possibility of litigation, MBL reported.

Haarde said that a government should naturally defend the rights of its subjects, but the statements of the British had been quite unwarranted.

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The Icelandic Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde held a press conference this afternoon reacting, amongst other issues, to the speech of Gordon Brown, his British counterpart, from yesterday afternoon.

Haarde said that he received a letter from Gordon Brown earlier today clarifying his government’s approach. Haarde then called Brown’s earlier public remarks unfortunate, but claimed that they are mutually working on clarifying the current situation.

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The Icelandic Prime Minister, Geir H. Haarde is determined not to let the current economic situation ruin the long-standing friendship between Iceland and Britain.

He stated that the assets of Landsbanki can cover most of the Icesave deposits in Britain and talks with a team from Britain are scheduled this weekend to find a solution.

The PM emphasised that the governments of Iceland and Britain are willing to find a satisfactory solution for everyone involved.

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The Icelandic government is said to be angry at the approach of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown concerning depositors of Landsbanki. (Read IceSave customers to get UK support).

Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde, who held a press conference this afternoon, compared the approach of “further action”, mentioned by Brown, to terrorist law which would be irrelevant if applied to Iceland. Haarde had a discussion with British Chancellor Alistair Darling earlier today, who seems to agree that such steps were premature and hot-headed. They both agreed that a team will be sent to Iceland to settle this matter as well as attend IMF talks this weekend.

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