President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with a U.S. weekly magazine to be published this week that the Palestinian resistance movements are not "involved in terrorist activities."
| "It's, ummm... something else. Freedom fighters! That's what it is! They freedom fighters... |
Speaking to Newsweek, Assad said all the Arabs support the Palestinians and send them money. On U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's demand to close the offices of some Palestinian resistance groups operating from Damascus, the Syrian Pesident said they do not have offices but "houses where these groups do media activities. We spoke with Powell about all these activities." Asked whether or not these "offices" were involved in "directing terrorist operations," Assad said one can "consider these offices to be involved in terrorist activities, but they are not."
| "They're something else. I'm just not too sure what..." |
"There are differences in priorities between us and the U.S. administration. When Secretary Powell talked about the offices, we asked him to talk about all the issues concerning our two countries in a package 
Our priority is to restore our territory," he said in reference to the occupied Golan Heights. "I talked with Mr. Powell about stopping activities not closures. The Palestinians have information offices and can appear on TV. But restricting them is related to the Golan—to resuming the peace talks on the Syrian track."
| "I'd trade their sorry asses for the Golan Heights. Wouldn't you?" |
Asked that former Israeli premier Barak risked his career in an effort to make peace, but Palestinian leader Yaser Arafat turned the offer down, Assad said they "both made mistakes."
| Yeah, that's true. Yasser turned the offer down, and Barak tried to deal with him... |
On the U.S.-backed Mideast roadmap peace plan, Assad dismissed reports that Syria was trying to spoil the nascent plan. "We don’t have any relations with Palestinians ... so we are not able to spoil. I can talk about the concept: for the last two years, they talked about security before a political solution. [But if] you get a political solution [that] doesn’t satisfy all parties, you won’t have security. You should first have the political solution. We won’t interfere. Our concern is the Golan."
| "Nope. Not us. Nope. Nope." |
On the U.S. stance on Hezbollah, Assad said that Syria will support them "as long as they don’t do any terrorist acts."
| You mean like blowing up a barracks and killing 281 sleeping Marines? |
Assad dismissed as "false" U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage's accusation of the resistance movement as being a team of terror. "They have not killed anyone outside of Lebanon where their land is occupied." Assad asserted that they do not get arms via Syria, adding that "we give them political support because they want to get back their lands."
| "The arms and ammunition are delivered by djinns. I've seen it with my own eyes..." |
Assad further said that Syria is working without tiring to enhance relations with the U.S., arguing that "cooperation in combating terrorism is evidence."
| "But first we have to define terrorism, don't we?" |
On the Israeli accusations that Assad is "more extreme" than his father, he said that "It’s just a lie," adding that "the mood in the region changed" when the second Palestinian Intifada erupted. "I inherited Syria became president in July 2000. In September of that year, the Intifada started. The mood in the region changed ... It seemed as if the Israelis did not want peace. It was not that we changed our mind about peace." On the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, Assad said the presence of the Syrian army inn Lebanon is "related to a peace treaty, to a complete [Israeli] withdrawal." He said the Israelis didn’t withdraw completely from Lebanon, arguing that "they still occupy Shebaa Farms." On May 3, Powell denounced "anti-Israeli" groups and called for the Lebanese army to end Hezbollah's presence on the Israeli border. |