Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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.”

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Thursday, April 15, 2010

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.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Sarkozy tries his hand at reviving Mideast peace

Report from AFP by Carole Landry – Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009:
Sarkozy tries his hand at reviving Mideast peace
PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday stepped up French diplomacy in the Middle East, holding talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders ahead of an Elysee meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

With the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort in peril, Sarkozy spoke by phone with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas after meeting for nearly two hours with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris late Wednesday.

He "underscored the urgency of re-starting the Middle East peace process and discussed, in light of his recent international contacts, the conditions that would allow a rapid resumption of negotiations," said an Elysee statement.

While the French diplomatic efforts between Israel and the Palestinians yielded no concrete announcements, Sarkozy was also turning his attention to Syria after Israel said it was open to reviving talks with Damascus.

Sarkozy is to explore prospects for Israeli-Syrian talks during a luncheon meeting with Assad at the Elysee palace on Friday, the latest in a string of visits underpinning warmer ties between Paris and Damascus.

Facing a dead-end on the Palestinian track, an Israeli official travelling with Netanyahu held open a chance of progress on the Syrian track of the stalled regional peace plan.

"Mr Sarkozy raised the issue of the Syrian track," a senior aide traveling with Netanyahu said Wednesday.
"The prime minister said he is willing to meet with the Syrian president at any time and anywhere to move on the peace negotiations on the basis of no pre-conditions," he added.

Syria has repeatedly demanded the return of the strategic Golan Heights, which Israeli captured in the 1967 war and unilaterally annexed in 1981, as a non-negotiable condition for peace.

Assad on Wednesday told a meeting of Arab politicians that Syria would not "put forward conditions on making peace" but warned it had "rights that we will not renounce," according to the SANA news agency.

Turkish mediation between the foes broke off last year during Israel's offensive in Gaza, closing a promising diplomatic channel, but Ankara has said it was willing to resume its role.

The editor of Syria's ruling party newspaper Al Baath, Abdel-Latif Omran, told AFP that while Syria was sticking to its demands for the return of the Golan Heights, it was also ready to negotiate on parallel issues such as water, normalisation of ties and security arrangements.

"The Israeli side is trying to sabotage all international peace efforts," said Omran.

"We hope that the efforts put forward by the European Union and France will lead to true peace in the Middle East, but there is no Israeli willingness to make peace."

Relations between France and Syria have been warming since Assad paid a landmark visit to Paris last year for Bastille Day celebrations and Sarkozy visited Damascus two months later in September 2008.

The Syrian leader recently played a key role in convincing Iran to grant bail for French academic Clotilde Reiss on trial for "provoking rioters" after the June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Keeping the pressure on Israel and the Palestinians, Sarkozy is dispatching Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to the region for talks next week.

Sarkozy outlined "important suggestions" aimed at restarting the comatose peace process during his talks with Abbas, according to a Palestinian aide.

A senior Palestinian official told AFP that Sarkozy's "suggestions" included holding a Middle East peace conference in Moscow, an idea Russia has been pushing for months.
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From The Jerusalem Post Thur, Nov 12, 2009 21:27
Report: After meeting PM, Sarkozy calls Abbas to discuss renewal of talks
By JPOST.COM STAFF
After discussing peace efforts with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Paris on Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy phoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in order to discuss conditions for the renewal of negotiations, according to an AFP report.

Quoting an Elysee statement, the report said that Sarkozy "underscored the urgency of re-starting the Middle East peace process."

Sarkozy - apparently wishing to assert his position as a Mideast mediator - is slated to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Friday.

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