Al-Shara and de Villepin joint press conference in Damascus
Syria-France, Politics, 4/14/2003

Syria's Foreign Minister, Farouk al-Shara and the French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin held on Saturday a press conference.

Al-Shara welcomed the visit of De Villepin at this critical stage indicating that the discussions, of De Villepin with President Bashar al-Assad, were rich, constructive and explicit and were dedicated to the tragic situation in Iraq and to the ways to overcome the crisis and to maintain the unity and integrity of the Iraqi territories.

Al-Shara said that the war on Iraq was illegitimate and unfair according to Syria, France, and the majority of the countries worldwide.

De Villepin expressed his gratitude to the meeting with President Bashar al-Assad and stated that the ME is at a crossroad at this critical stage and that European and the international community should keep their responsibilities. De Villepin said that this visit to Syria came in view of her regional position, weight, and significant role Syria plays in the region especially with regard to Iraq.

De Villepin stated that Syria's position is that of the basic partner in every peace process, which implies that, Syria's role and responsibilities are very important in claming down the situation. He expressed his appreciation of the role Syria played at the UN SC to have Resolution 1441 adopted unanimously.

De Villepin highlighted that the international community supports stability and security in the region stressing the necessity to restore confidence, inside Europe and at the international arena and in the SC. He stated that Syria, as a member at the SC plays an important role in achieving this purpose.

On the bilateral relations between Syria and France, the French minister expressed France's full support to the process of modernization and development under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad, this process that incorporates to future promotes security and stability in the ME.

Al-Shara answered questions put forward by the journalists and said that the threats addressed by some US officials against Syria aim at severing the national and historical relations between Syria and the Iraqi people. He clarified that the Americans themselves know that these threats are baseless. Al-Shara added that these threats don't express the main consensus in the US and that Syria, which occupies an important position at the Arab, regional, and international level, as well as at the Islamic countries level and the non- aligned countries and even in the US arena, do not take such accusations seriously as millions of the US citizens expressed their satisfaction with the Syrian policy that was expressed in the SC during the past period. Al-Shara said these accusations represent a fanatic tendency that do not preserve the interest of the West in the ME.

Al-Shara said that the US fell in contradictions with regard to the allegations that weapons of mass destruction were smuggled from Iraq to Syria, when the US could not prove this allegation as there was no lead available in this respect.

Al-Shara expressed doubt that the aim of the war on Iraq was to change the Iraqi regime. Had the aim been so, there should have been none of the tragedies witnessed now in the Iraqi cities. He expressed sorrow that the aim of the war is to destroy Iraq together with its institutions and ministries.

On a question whether there was a formal message from the US, al-Shara said that the last US message to Syria was Powell's confirmation, upon the vote on Resolution 1441, that if Syria votes for the resolution, then it would not be used as a pretext to launch war on Iraq.

At the conclusion, De Villepin said he had an important dialogue with Syria on all subjects and that this spirit of dialogue helps to achieve progress and provide for the necessary solutions.

Previous Stories:
  Al-Assad gets a telephone call from Chirac   (4/7/2003)
  Al-Assad meets with French delegation on administrative reforms in Syria   (3/31/2003)
  Al-Assad gets a telephone call from Chirac   (3/26/2003)

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