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Syria Says It Will Press for Cease-Fire
Syria, one of Hezbollah's main backers, said Sunday it will press for a cease-fire and was willing to engage in direct talks with the United States to help end the fighting between Israel and the Islamic militant group. But Syrian officials said Damascus would only cooperate within the framework of a broader Middle East peace initiative that would include a return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1981, and warned they will not stand by if the Israelis step up their offensive. "Syria and Spain are working to achieve a cease-fire, a prisoners' swap and to start a peace process as one package," Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal was quoted as saying by the Spanish daily newspaper ABC. "Syria is working on achieving real, comprehensive, fair peace based on the withdrawal from all the occupied territories, including the Golan."It was unlikely Israel would agree to such a deal, but the remarks were the first indication of Syria's willingness to be involved in international efforts to defuse the Lebanese crisis. Damascus is one of the Arab world's strongest opponents of Israel. The Jewish state has said it had no plans to target Syria or Iran, Hezbollah's other main backer, in the current conflict. "If Israel invades Lebanon and enters it by land ... then we will not stand with our hands tied," Bilal said in Madrid after talks with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos. Bilal's interview was also carried on the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, suggested his country was ready for direct talks with Washington on ending the fighting in Lebanon. If the United States wants to involve Syria in the diplomatic efforts, "of course Damascus is more than willing to engage," Moustapha said on CBS'"Face the Nation." The Bush administration has rejected calls for a quick cease-fire, saying its diplomatic efforts would focus on finding a strategy for confronting Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton dismissed the idea of talks with Syria. Syria "doesn't need dialogue to know what they need to do. They need to lean on Hezbollah to get them to release the two captured Israeli soldiers and stop the launch of rockets against innocent Israeli civilians," he told "Fox News Sunday." Posted by: Fred 2006-07-24 |
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