Iran and Syria express support for Sudan's unity and integrity

Iran and Syria express support for Sudan's unity and integrity
Source: Arab Monitor - www.arabmonitor.info
Date: Thursday, 02 December 2010

(Kuwait City, 2 December) - In a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his Syrian counterpart's deputy, Faisal al-Miqdad, on the sidelines of the International Donors and Investors Conference on Eastern Sudan, both officials expressed their countries' commitment to the unity and integrity of Sudan and their opposition to ongoing efforts to cut the African country into two parts. Mottaki and al-Miqdad pointed out to the significance and importance of the huge north eastern African country in and for the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Non-Alligned Movement, the Arab League as well as the African Union.

Sudan's Council of Ministers' Secretary General meets his Syrian counterpart

Council of Ministers' Secretary General Meets his Syrian Counterpart
Source: SUNA - www.sunanews.net
Date: Thursday, 28 October 2010

(Khartoum) - The Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Omer Mohamed Saleh, has reviewed the spheres of cooperation between the Council of Ministers' Secretariats General in Sudan and Syria and for implementation of the agreements and protocols signed by the two countries.

The Director of the Decision-making Department at the Syrian Cabinet, Hussein Ibrahim, appreciated following his meeting with Dr. Saleh affirmed the deeply-rooted relations between Khartoum to Damascus in all domains. He said that the meeting came in the context of the efforts to consolidate the cooperation and exchange of experiences between the two sisterl countries.
IF/MO

Sudanese delegation in Syria to sign cooperation agreement

Source: Arab Monitor - www.arabmonitor
Date: 01 or 02 October 2010
Title: Sudanese delegation in Damascus to sign cooperation agreement
Copy in full:

(Damascus, 1 October) – Syrian official sources informed of a meeting held yesterday between Vice President Farouk al-Sharra and Sudanese information minister Kamal Ebeid to discuss the latest political developments as well as means and ways to bolster bilateral relations.

Damascus shares Khartum's interest in maintaining Sudan's national unity and in protecting itself against the negative repercussions of foreign interference in domestic issues.

Khartum, for its part, sees its interests best protected within the frame of a consolidated Arab bloc. In this context Syrian information minister Mohsen Bilal discussed with his Sudanese counterpart the importance of establishing integrated work mechanisms and programs to implement cooperation between the various print and broadcasting media of both countries and their official news agencies.

Both countries' ministers agreed to exchange visits between working delegations with the aim to set up a daily press communication keeping the public in Syria informed about realities on the ground in Sudan, especially in the run-up to the referendum to be held in south Sudan.

It was also agreed upon to boost cooperation in the field of engineering and technical training and to set up a program for joint TV, documentary and drama production. Ministers Mohsen Bilal and Kamal Ebeid concluded the meeting signing an agreement of cooperation between the Syrian news agency SANA and the Sudanese SUNA.

Syria says it is ready to make peace with Israel if it fulfils UN resolutions

Walid Al-Moualem, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic, addresses the general debate of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly.

Syria says it is ready to make peace with Israel if it fulfils UN resolutions
Source: UN News Centre - Tuesday, 28 September 2010:

Syria said today that it “has the will” to make peace with Israel within the framework of United Nations resolutions calling for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory, stressing that the return to it of the Golan Heights is non-negotiable.

“Syria wants "just and comprehensive peace achieved through the implementation of Security Council Resolutions 242, 338 and the Arab Peace Initiative,” Foreign Minister Walid AI-Moualem told the General Assembly. “Our solemn position has been known for years. We have the will to make peace and we are the masters of our decision, which is unwavering. The Occupied Syrian Golan is not negotiable nor is it ? bargaining chip.

“Recognition of the fact that it must be returned fully is the basis on which peace making arrangements should be made,” he said, adding that Syria is ready to resume Turkish-mediated peace negotiations from the point where they stopped with the previous Israeli Government in 2008 if it finds in Israel ? partner committed to the terms of reference and with the necessary political will.

Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian talks, he said that there is much talk about peace in Israel “yet the drums of war continue to sound,” with land appropriation for settlement building going on unabated.

“Peace negotiations, we are told, are under way on the basis of the two-state solution but relentless settlement activities are about to make this two-state solution a dead letter that stands no chance of survival,” he said.

“Israel is feverishly pursuing its Judaization plans for Jerusalem which it has long sought to depopulate of its Palestinian inhabitants. Israeli actions threaten the safety of Jerusalem’s holy sites.

“Through settlement activities, actions and declarations relevant to Jerusalem, Israel pursues ? fait accompli policy on the basis of which it imposes its will regardless of whether negotiations continue or stall. Peace can be genuine only if there is ? genuine will to make peace. This is the litmus test. Political manoeuvres during negotiations under the umbrella of ‘the desire for peace’ strain and exacerbate the situation and may make it more volatile.”

Mr. Moualem said Israel must comply with international decisions calling on it to adhere to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and submit its nuclear installations to the international safeguards regime, declaring this “of extreme significance for the security and stability of the region.”

On Iraq, he said the war-torn country’s security is contingent upon its national unity based primarily on its Arab-Islamic identity, and on the participation of all the stripes of the Iraqi people in building their present and future.

Turning to Sudan, where a referendum on possible independence for the south is scheduled for 9 January, he said Syria follows developments there “because we are dedicated to Sudan's unity, sovereignty, security and stability.”

US keeps Syria on terrorism blacklist

Report by AFP - Thursday, 05 August 2010:

US declines to put NKorea back on terrorism blacklist

The Obama administration declined Thursday to put North Korea back on a blacklist of countries supporting terrorism despite pressure from lawmakers to do so.

In its report for 2009, the State Department kept the same countries on the list as it did in 2008 -- Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Syria -- with Iran again listed as the "most active state sponsor of terrorism."

Former US president George W. Bush de-listed North Korea in 2008 after it vowed to end its nuclear program, agreed to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and pledged to disable its nuclear plants.

The Obama administration has kept it off the list again after citing narrow legal definition for what constitutes support for terrorism.

In June 2009, 16 US Republican Senators urged President Barack Obama's administration to place the communist regime back on the US blacklist.

The North conducted its second nuclear test the previous month and defied international criticism by firing a volley of short-range missiles and threatening to attack the capitalist South.

Though the report does not cover events this year, Republican senators renewed their call for North Korea to be listed again after South Korea and the United States blamed it for sinking a South Korean warship in March.

In keeping four countries on the blacklist, the Country Reports on Terrorism 2009 said "Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism".

"Iran?s financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf and undermined the growth of democracy," it said.

The US accuses Iran of actively supporting groups like the Taliban in Afghanistan, Shiite groups in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories.

On Sudan, the report said the government was cooperating with US counter-terrorism efforts, but said "Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist elements as well as elements of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and HAMAS, remained in Sudan in 2009."

The report said the United States disagrees with Syria's support for what it calls national liberation movements, groups Washington considers are terrorist.

"Syria continued to provide safe-haven as well as political and other support to a number of designated Palestinian terrorist groups, including HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)," the report.

The report complained that Cuba still gives safe haven and ideological support for three terrorist organizations.

"The Government of Cuba has long assisted members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN), and Spain?s Basque Homeland and Freedom Organization (ETA), some having arrived in Cuba in connection with peace negotiations with the governments of Colombia and Spain," it said.

US concerned about Syrian intentions over Hezbollah

According to the following report, Hezbollah is fiercely opposed to Israel.

US concerned about Syrian intentions over Hezbollah
From BBC News online by Kim Ghattas
BBC State Department correspondent, Washington
Thursday, 15 April 2010 03:27 UK - excerpt:

The White House has said it is increasingly concerned over reports that Syria is sending sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon, a day after the Israeli President Shimon Peres accused Damascus of supplying Scud missiles to the militant group.

The reports are a blow to the Obama administration's attempt to engage positively with the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad after years of tension between Washington and Damascus.

"We are obviously increasingly concerned about the sophisticated weaponry that ... is allegedly being transferred," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "We have expressed our concerns to [the] governments [of Lebanon and Syria]."

Mr Gibbs was responding to questions about the Israeli president's comments. He did not confirm that the transfer had taken place but warned it could have a potentially destabilizing effect on the region.

Israeli fears

Hezbollah is backed by Iran; both are Israel's arch enemies. If the militant group obtains medium and long range ballistic missiles, such as Scuds, this could alter the military balance in the region.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a war in 2006 during which Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel but Scuds would put all of Israel within reach.

Israel's president has said Syria is supplying Scuds to Hezbollah

Some military experts however believe Hezbollah already has longer-range missiles, in which case this latest development would be important because of the signal it sends at a time of simmering tension in the region.

Israel is worried about Iran's nuclear programme and has often warned it could strike Iran if it felt threatened.

Syria and Hezbollah would be likely to be immediately drawn into the conflict. But Iran's allies could also choose to strike pre-emptively at Israel.