Syria and Egypt call for an Arab summit
 

Cairo, 2/10
Syria and Egypt on Monday called for the convening of an Arab summit in light of the recent clashes erupted in occupied Arab territories in which 37 Palestinians at least killed.
In a joint press conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, President Bashar al-Assad said we discussed this subject in today’s session of talks and ‘’agreed that holding an Arab summit has become necessary.’’
Mubarak for his part, said when talked about the recent violence in the occupied Arab territories, the worst in at lest four years, ‘’ I call for an Arab summit as soon as possible so that the Arab countries can resolve outstanding issues. Otherwise they will remain disjointed.’’
President Bashar al-Assad said Syria was willing to resume peace talks with Israel, but that Israel had to make the first move.
‘’ The ball is in Israel’s court because Syria is sincere and Israel has not proved a sincere intention or possibility of Israeli institutions taking a brave and sincere decision to realize peace,’’ President Assad said.
‘’The signs we see – the latest one being what is happening in Jerusalem --- mean we cannot separate what happens in Jerusalem from what happens on the Golan,’’ he added.
Meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad called on Arab states to help lift UN sanctions on Iraq.‘’ Lifting the sanctions on Iraqi peoples has become a duty for Arab and other states. The embargo ‘s purpose was to punish Iraq for particular act, for entering Kuwait. But after 10 years the result is not Iraqi punishment but destruction,’’ President Assad said.
‘’ I think the situation in Lebanon is excellent and good especially after the liberation of (the south), I think the situation is superb.. we look at it from this view and what is said or reported posed just as an interior Lebanese situation that Syria has no relations to,’’ President Assad told reporters in Cairo at a joint press conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
For his part, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak defended the presence of Syria in Lebanon and said it was necessary for building balance and that this appearance came upon an accord between the two countries.
‘’ Syria is making balance and guaranteeing it in Lebanon among various categories as to allow Lebanon be stable especially during these circumstances we are passing by.. This is a very important matter … Syria’s presence in Lebanon came upon an accord between the two countries,’’ Mubarak said.
Regarding the Syrian –Egyptian ties, Mubarak announced the Syrian Egyptian joint committee would shortly hold a meeting and said there were always a progress in the process of joint cooperation between the two countries.
He also nullified there were any problem between Syria and the PLO and said ‘’absolutely’’ there is no problem and the subject could happen as any simple dispute but personally I don’t think there were nothing.
His Excellency President Bashar Hafez Al-Assad blasted the visit of the the Israeli Likud Party notorious leader, Arael Sharon, to Al- Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli police and Army. "The visit is a concrete evidence of the Israeli Government involvement directly in the ongoing bloody confrontations in Jerusalem and in the occupied territories in flagrant contempt for the feelings of Palestinians, Arabs, Moslems, and of Christians,'' said President Assad in his talks with Egyptian counterpart in Cairo yesterday. The President noted that the visit came in collaboration and coordination between Sharon and the Israeli Government due to some Israeli domestic considerations.

The Egyptian Presidential Website reports the following:

http://www.presidency.gov.eg/html/2-October2000_press.html

Mubarak ,Bashar urge Arabs to, immediate Summit

  October 2, 2000

 President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar AL Assad have called for holding an Arab summit as soon as possible in order to confront bloody events in the Palestinian territories.  President Mubarak said these events were expected a long time ago, adding that he has previously pointed out that Jerusalem and AL Haram AL Sharif are the most sensitive issues that if left unresolved would lead to untoward consequences.

 President Bashar Al Assad said the convening of Arab summit is a must, asserting that the convening of the summit should not wait until disagreements are settled.

 “The Egyptian-Syrian relationship is strong, solid, firm and unwavering,” President Mubarak said. Bashar AL Assad is following on the footsteps of his late father, who was a dear friend, he added. “Their summit talks were part of regular Egyptian-Syrian coordination to settle Arab issues or problems,” he said. “We meet in Damascus, Cairo, or any place we agree upon, sometimes we need to hold a three-way meeting with Saudi Arabia or any other Arab country to coordinate for the best interest of the Arabs,” President Mubarak said.

 Assad, on his part, thanked the Egyptian government and people for their hospitality and generosity. His visit to Egypt, he said, is his first on both the official and personal levels.

  President Mubarak deplored the killing of Mohamed, the 12year old boy, who died in the arms of an unconscious father, at the site of the killing of his son. “Such horrible and terrifying acts, televised on all satellite channels, are enough to inflame sentiments,” he said. “The President warned that such practices complicate the peace process and will complicate it even more if they do not lay down a just solution to the problem of Jerusalem that would lead to a permanent peace. The problem, otherwise, will never come to an end,” he said.  “Mubarak reiterated his call for an Arab summit in the earliest possible future so that Arab countries could study issues of concern to them. But if we continue like this, we will remain fragmented and will never come to a solution, solidarity or support of any Arab cause,” he said. President Mubarak, asked if he had any message to convey to the US now that Palestinian sentiments are on fire , and peace is on the brink of collapse, said the US is the main peace broker, her role has never ceased, and therefore” it needs no message from me”.

 On whether the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was capable of making peace, the President said: “I can say that if it is peace they should genuinely seek, they are capable of making it, but if they have no serious intentions, one can say they are not capable”.

 Peace is a demand of the Arab and Palestinian people, and the majority of the Israeli people, he added. And peace will never reign if not just, he said. East Jerusalem and AL Haram AL Sharif are occupied land since 1967 and were never part of Israel, he added. He said he informed Israelis more than once and US President Bill Clinton, when he came to Cairo this summer, that the gravest negotiating issue is what concerns religion, namely Jerusalem and AL Haram AL Sharif. No Arab, Muslim or Christian will ever accept Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem that was Palestinian land, he added.

  Asked when he expected the frozen Syrian-Israeli relations to thaw and resume, given the current regional developments, President Mubarak said that what happened between Palestinians and Israelis was not normal. “I think what right-wing Likud leader Ariel Sharon did has caused grave problems to the peace process now, and maybe he did so for personal reasons or other reasons, but it was not appropriate,” he added.

  On whether Egypt and Syria would send flights to Baghdad, Mubarak said that sending airplanes to Baghdad depends on the private sector. If it wants to send planes, we will not object,he added. Asked if he would seek the approval of the UN sanctions committee beforehand, Mubarak said: “We will do what other countries have done and we will inform the sanctions committee, this is all to it.” “Iraq is a member of the Arab league, its membership has not been suspended although it did not attend one summit, but it attended all meetings, held on the ministerial level at the league,” he said. In Monday summit with Bashar, he said they examined the Iraqi stance, the Arab summit and how the Iraqi stance would be.

 Answering a question on prospects for the establishment of Arab Common Market, given the fact that the world is currently tending towards the establishment of economic blocs. the President said that Arab Common Market is an essential topic, he said inter-Arab trade accounts for 8-10% whereas trade with Europe, American and the world represent 92%.

 Bashar AL Assad, on his part, said Syria holds on to the principle of seeking peace, but is not concentrating on the form as on the content. Asked if he would meet Barak in Marseilles next month as part of a French endeavor he said: peace between individuals does not realize peace, what counts are the matters on the ground. We have to took for the principles, leading to peace before one looks at the form, he questioned. “A meeting with Barak is not a principle, it is only a form,” he said.

 Asked to the response to the American view that the ball is now in the Syrian court, Bashar Al Assad said: the Syrian position is clear, its rights are clear and there are no balls in the peace process.

 Returning to the issue of Jerusalem, Mubarak said: “I have talked to Israelis and I told them that if you want real peace and stability in the region you must stay away from the issue of Jerusalem, you must leave Jerusalem and AL Haram AL Sharif to the Palestinians because it is their territory. When Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was in Camp David, he accepted that Israelis take the Jewish quarter and the walling wall, and that the Haram AL Sharif as a whole is placed under Palestinian sovereignty, in addition to the Muslim, Christian and Armenians quarters, he added. Mubarak expressed conviction that such a solution was possible, that it would satisfy all parties, because Arafat agreed to it at the Camp David summit.  It would be impossible to accept Israel sovereignty over AL Haram AL Sharif or East Jerusalem, he added.

 Regarding sovereignty either above, under or divine over the holy sites in the old city, Mubarak said: why would Jerusalem alone have divine sovereignty, "unless there is another God we don't know of; this is unlogical and unacceptable,” he added. Assuming there are balls, the ball must be in the Israeli court because Syria is sincere, he added. Israel has not so far proven genuine intentions towards peace, and its decision makers have as far failed to make a clear, bold and honest decision in the realization of peace.

 Asked on the situation in Lebanon,  Syria has nothing to do with domestic Lebanese matters, President Al Assad said.

 Answering a query on the timing of Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarek Aziz's visit to Damascus, Assad said that Iraq is an Arab country and differences.  there is no reason for such a timing.     Bashar said that Iraq-Syria bilateral relations were tackled during the visit as well as the sufferings of the Iraqi people as a result of a ten-year embargo. Arabs should reconsider their position, the outcome of such embargo and the goal out of it, he stressed.

  The embargo was meant to punish Iraq for invading Kuwait, now and after ten years the embargo's outcome is not punishing Iraq. but rather humiliating it, he said, brushing aside that the Arabs have an interest in coming to such a conclusion.  Syria’s position on invading Kuwait has not changed, we still support Kuwait, Bashar said, adding that this does not mean that his country wanted to lose Iraq.

 Syrian President Bashar AL Assad said that Syrian-Egyptian ties were deeply-rooted and strong. Assad said that President Mubarak and himself did not start their talks from zero.   “President Mubarak and Late President Hafez Assad had built a strong bedrock on which bilateral ties are based,” Assad said. He expressed hope that cooperation between the two countries would continue at the same level if not better.

 On the situation in Iraq, Bashar said that alleviating suffering of the Iraqi people is a must.

 Answering a question, Mubarak denied Egyptian-Syrian relations were warm, saying the relationship was as strong as ever. “Egypt has always called for the complete return of Syrian lands, it has spoken to the US on this issue and has informed Israel that Syria will not relinquish one inch of its land,” he said. Asked to comment on the recent tone calling for Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon, and whether this would change the Syrian-Lebanese equation, Bashar AL Assad seemed to put the blame for such a tone at the door of news media which, he said, had a knock for either blowing things out of all proportion or downplaying them.  

Back

INTERVIEWS SPEECHES DOMESTIC ISSUESNATIONAL ISSUESINTERNATIONAL ISSUESNEWS & ANALYSESPICTURES      HOME