PRESIDENT AL-ASSAD/ PRESS STATEMENTS IN LIBYA (March 28, 2010)
President Bashar Al-Assad said on Sunday it is the Arab citizen who evaluates the Arab Summit and not the Arab leaders, because they are part of the Summit.
Speaking to the press at the end of the 22nd Arab Summit held in Sirt, Libya, President Al-Assad declared that Syria has submitted a paper to the Summit including suggestions on how to manage inter-Arab differences, convene Arab Summits and mechanisms to present initiatives during a sufficient span of time prior to the Summit as to ensure success.
The President pointed out that "the reason behind many of the disagreements among the Arabs lies in the way we deal with the Arab Summit and not in the issues themselves."
"There was no going back in this Summit. Last year, many things were done with regard to inter-Arab relations. The results do not appear now; perhaps later," President Al-Assad said.
Asked about the conditions for making peace with Israel, the President said "We do not trust the Israelis and we don't believe that they want peace. Therefore, we say that the other means to liberate the land is the resistance."
"There are no conditions, but the rights. There is a difference between conditions and rights and we are talking about the rights. The rights are subject to no compromise, no surrender and no discussion. The rights are the basics of Mideast peace."
In an answer to a question about Syria's reservation during the meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee, President Al-Assad said "Given what happened in Cairo, our stance was clear: first, the Committee has no power to deal with the issue. Second, if there was a party who wants to move in the peace process, he had to move by his own decision and to assume responsibility for success or failure. This is our position clearly."
"The Arabs need no invitations," President Al-Assad said in reply to a question, adding that "if the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had been able to come to Libya, there would have been an idea for a meeting; however, he couldn't make it due to health reasons."
