Chirac, Annan talk with al-Assad on US resolution on Iraq; desire to Syria's consent
Syria-Iraq, Politics, 11/9/2002

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad yesterday received a telephone call from the French President Jacques Chirac during which talks dealt with the amendments introduced to the American draft decision in a way that prevents the use of force as a pretext to attack Iraq and all sides to abide by UN resolutions.

The president received a telephone call from the UN secretary General Kofi Annan during which discussions dealt with discussions of the UN Security Council resolution concerning Iraq and the desire of the UN to have Syria within the UN consensus especially as Syria used to be part of the continued work at the UN Security Council with permanent and non-permanent members in order to remove the vague articles in the resolution. Articles that will allow the US to resort to the use of force against Iraq.

Annan stressed to the president that all unclear and vague articles which allow the use of force were dealt with, thanks to the efforts of permanent and non-permanent members at the UN Security Council and that the US has agreed to return back to the UN security council for approval if the return of the UN inspection teams faces difficulties in its work.

Annan also stressed to the president that the consensus over the said resolution avails the return back of UN inspectors and that will avoid Iraq damage.

In the same context, the Syrian deputy prime minister and foreign minister Farouk al-Shara yesterday received a message from his US counterpart Colin Powell calling on Syria to vote for the resolution debated on the UN Security Council after the US and Britain responded to certain issues raised by Syria and other members at the UN Security Council during its deliberations concerning the American- British draft decision.

In his messagem Powell stressed that the final formula, taking into account the Syrian, French and Russian amendments and others, gives Iraq the opportunity to abide by dismantling its mass destruction weapons by peaceful means.

Powell also stressed that the US would not have followed up in recent weeks discussions with other members at the UN Security Council, if it wanted to use the resolution as a pretext to launch war, nor to respond to points of concern for Security Council members, especially concerning the use of force spontaneously.

Powell lastly said that adopting this resolution unanimously now would serve to avoid military confrontation later on. The Syrian foreign ministry informed the American ambassador in Damascus that it has studied Powell's message and once again renews its request to postpone voting on the draft resolution until Monday in order to allow Syria consultations with members of the Arab League concerning the content of the American message and the draft resolutions debated at the UN Security Council.

In the same context a telephone call was made yesterday between the Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara and his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov during which the two FM s discussed current deliberation in the UN Security Council concerning the Iraqi issue.

During the telephone call, al- Shara stressed Syria's care at the UN Security Council that honors international law and enhances the role played by the UN and maintains Iraq's unity and territorial integrity.

Al-Shara stressed that Syria has worked inside and outside the UN Security Council to prevent the issuance of a decision that allow the use of force automatically.

Al-Shara urged the Russian foreign minister that his country to exert efforts for postponing the draft resolution until Syria will be able to make consultations with other Arab states in the meeting due to be held in Cairo on Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday morning al-Shara made a telephone call with the secretary general of the Arab League Amr Moussa during which latest developments on the UN Security Council concerning Iraq were discussed. Al-Shara stressed Syria's care to maintain coordination with the other Arab states through the Arab League concerning the draft resolutions concerning Iraq and that Syria has asked reconsidering the draft resolution in order to enable the Arab foreign ministers discussing it in their meetings due on Saturday and Sunday in Cairo.

Previous Stories:
  Turkish, Syrian observers at the Iraqi opposition meeting   (11/7/2002)
  Al-Sharq al-Awsat: Talibani seeks to maintain closeness to Syria   (11/5/2002)
  Talibani: The US will try 30 Iraqi officials as war criminals   (11/4/2002)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search