- DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syrian Prime
Minister Mohammad Naji Otri accused Israel of not wanting peace with the
Palestinians and charged that the Jewish state was the sole beneficiary
of the US-led occupation of Iraq.
-
- "Israel, backed by the United States, is opposed
to peace and remains a source of instability in the region," the official
Sana press agency quoted Otri as saying at a meeting of the joint Syrian-Iranian
high committee.
-
- "Israel is the only one who benefits from the US-British
occupation of Iraq... which has become a source of ongoing concern and
is unacceptable," Otri said.
-
- He called on "Arab and Muslim states, especially
Iraq's neighbors, to coordinate their efforts to find a resolution that
will put an end to the suffering of the Iraqi people and to the occupation,
and that will allow the Iraqis to exercise their democratic rights and
form their own government."
-
- The meeting of the joint committee, co-chaired by Otri
and Iranian first vice president Mohammad Reza Aref, was expected to focus
on bilateral ties, specifically in the area of economic cooperation, Sana
reported.
-
- Otri reiterated Syria's "attachment" to peace
in the Middle East and again called for the resumption of peace talks with
Israel, which broke down four years ago.
-
- Syria wants to recover the Golan Heights, the strategic
plateau captured by Israel in 1967.
-
- But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said the
negotiations must start again from scratch and has insisted on a halt to
Syrian support for Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups.
-
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of Agence France Presse.
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0216/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_syria_iran_iraq_040216212410
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