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Core of Syria policy, resistance to Israel: Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says his country has not set preconditions for holding peace talks with Israel, but adds that Damascus "will not renounce" its rights. "Resistance [to Israeli occupation] forms the core of our policy, both in the past and in the future. We do not put forward conditions on making peace, but we do have rights that we will not renounce," the Syrian president told a meeting of Arab political parties on Wednesday. Assad made the remarks in response to Israeli President Shimon Peres' proposal for "direct and unconditional" peace talks with Damascus in the near future. Israel and Syria have been technically at war since 1967 when Israeli troops captured the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War. The two sides have so far held four rounds of indirect talks to reach a comprehensive peace agreement through Turkish mediators last year. However, Syria formally suspended the talks in protest at Israel's three-week-long offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which left about 1,400 Palestinians dead at the turn of the year. Damascus has repeatedly said that it will resume peace talks with Tel Aviv only after a full Israeli pullout from the strategic plateau, which Israel occupied in 1967 and annexed in 1981. The region has now an estimated population of 20,000 Israeli settlers and 20,000 Syrians. Syria describes its demand for a complete Israeli withdrawal as a step towards reviving its rights and not a precondition. Israel has so far refused to return the plateau, which is a key source of fresh water for the arid region. Returning the Golan Heights will also cost Tel Aviv billions of dollars since it will have to dismantle Jewish settlements in the territory and pay compensation to the settlers. Posted by: Fred 2009-11-12 |
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