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March 9, 2009

Syrian Leader Says Peace With Israel May Be Possible
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=22C0276:A6F02AD83191E160230F01EC6DD01A64A13B8D4F2090AB2B&
 
President Bashar al-Assad says Jewish state must make peace with
Palestinians 
Bashar al-Assad An Arabic newspaper quotes Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad as saying he may agree to sign a peace deal with Israel, but
the two countries will not have fully normal relations unless the Jewish
state also makes peace with the Palestinians. In an interview with the
United Arab Emirates newspaper "Al-Khaleej," he said he can envision
Syria and Israel exchanging embassies, but "there is a difference
between a peace agreement and peace itself." The Syrian leader said "a
peace agreement is a signed piece of paper," but does not mean open
borders, trade or normal relations. He said it will be impossible to
have a "comprehensive peace" that will be accepted by the Syrian people
without also resolving the Palestinian situation. He called on
Palestinian negotiators to coordinate with Syria over their own peace
talks with Israel so the two issues will not be separated. Last year,
Turkey mediated indirect talks between Israel and Syria. They had
previously held direct negotiations, but those stalled in 2000.Damascus
wants Israel to return the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau the Jewish
state captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel wants Syria to
cut ties with Iran and militant groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and
the Palestinian movement Hamas. A senior U.S. senator who met with Mr.
Assad in Damascus last month said the Syrian leader would like the
United States to join the peace discussions. John Kerry, the chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. should play a role
in the peace talks if it helps move the process forward. 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.


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