Al-Assad says the USA needs to define terrorism
Syria-USA, Politics, 1/15/2002

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday received a telephone call from the US President George Bush during which latest regional developments were discussed.

Also, President Bashar al-Assad on Monday at al-Shaab palace received a delegation received the US congress. The meeting was attended by the deputy premier for economic affairs Farouk al-Shara and the US ambassador in Damascus Theodore Qattouf.

Discussions dealt with conditions in the Arab region and other areas in the world and the impact of September 11 events that took place in the USA.

Al-Assad stressed during his meeting with chairman and members of the visiting delegation that the US has to study deeply and to define terrorism, before it uses its military force. The president indicated the need of making a distinction between terrorism on the one hand and revenge on the other in being two different matters.

Al-Assad said that " we are on the road of fighting terrorism since a long time." He said that Syria's policy in this regard has not changed since decades while the US has a very recent history in this regard and therefore it is natural every one who wants to fight terrorism will join the trend pursued by Syria since long time, but as the US has vast technological and material potentials its cooperation in this regard might give quick and fruitful results. Al-Assad indicated the disorder prevailing the world in using idioms. He said it is natural that states will be different in agreeing to have an understanding of reality, namely using common terms with all in order to deal with this reality.

Concerning the peace process, the president stressed the need of analyzing the past and the present clearly and precisely. He said:" we are defending a just cause and we are not concerned with figures and there should be an analysis for the failure of the peace process whose basics were approved by the Madrid Conference before resuming negotiations that will not attain a result. Syria, he said which in the past sought peace, wants it now and the only conditions to achieve peace are those approved by the international community.

Al-Assad and members of the US congress delegation expressed their agreement with the president on the need to reach a clear definition to terrorism and other idioms and to make sure that all sides are speaking about the same thing and that contacts exist among civilizations and peoples so as to avoid committing mistakes from any side, and that the US has to understand the challenges imposed on people of the region and to cooperate sincerely with those peoples with a tangible understanding of facts in the region.

Previous Stories:
  Syrian information minister confers with CNN chief   (1/14/2002)
  Syrian source denies American naval inspection   (1/14/2002)
  Al-Assad confers with the US Senate delegation   (1/9/2002)

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