Canada's Deputy FM Lavertu Gaetan on regional issues while visiting Syria
Syria-Canada, Politics, 5/24/2003

Canada's Deputy Foreign Minister Lavertu Gaetan has recently paid a one day official visit to Syria. The visit aimed to deepen the Canadian view of the Middle East issue after the war in Iraq.

Gaetan's short visit to Syria is in the course of his tour on several countries in the region covering Jordan and Iran. He held talks with the Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara and other Syrian officials concerned on the situation in the Middle East in the new context of the situation in Iraq.

On the sideline of the visit, Gaeten held a round table negotiations with several Syrian journalists on the ground of his interest on how things are perceived following the war on Iraq and to exchange of views to that effect.

The meeting was attended by the Canadian ambassador in Damascus Franco Pillarella; political chancellor at the embassy Ian Shaw; third secretary in the embassy's political sector Aliya Mawani and embassy's public affairs officer Wael Sawah.

Gaetan said it is his first trip to the Middle East and he is very much interested to know how the Syrian side perceive the situation in the Middle East after the war in Iraq. " I have followed the situation in the region, especially the situation created by the conflict and the shaping of Canadian response to this situation. " He added that that Canada who did not participate in military action in the war against Iraq, could not, however, bridge the gap between the two parties at the UN.

He outlined that in the absence of UN authorization against Iraq "we decided not to take part in the war against Iraq." He added after the war Canada decided to help rebuild and rehabilitation of Iraq, setting forward a three dimension program to provide humanitarian assistance to Iraq to meet the social needs and assistance for building institutions which work for rehabilitating the people of Iraq.

He added that in his tour, discussions dealt with officials concerning the Middle East peace process noting that Canada's position in this regard is to work for real negotiations which will lead to the creation of two states; a secure and recognized Israel and a viable and full Ð independent Palestine.

He expressed Canada's satisfaction with the Quartet's Roadmap as an opportunity to be seized, noting that "we are aware of the difficulties of the acceptance and the implementation of the Roadmap," however, we think it is important to get the two parties to talk together.

He continued that Canada works to facilitate the process and that should the two parties, the Palestinians and the Israelis, accept the roadmap, the Canadian government will take part in this effort through the international community.

On ways and means through which Canada will fulfil its aid program to Iraq, Gaetan said that Canada decided to work with UN agencies for the purpose of implementing this program with a base of private organizations. He said Canadian Non Governmental Organizations NGO s are already there and the Canadian side is preparing to coordinate what other authorities would be at ground.

He said that Canada will cooperate efficiently to interact with the UN organizations for implementing its humanitarian assistance program to Iraq estimated at 300 million dollars. He said so far Canada has provided 55 million in the form of humanitarian assistance aid to Iraq.

However, he continued that providing the humanitarian assistance is hindered by the security situation in Baghdad and Iraq which is still problematic.

He said that provision of the these humanitarian aid is guided by the security situation on the ground as well as by needs specified by the Iraqi people. "We want to meet the needs by the Iraqis as defined by themselves," he said.

In an attempt not to relate the execution of this program to the state of chaos on the ground in Iraq because of the American occupation, Gaetan said that the Americans said they have no interests in Iraq. He said that since it takes time for the self- government and legitimacy in Iraq to re-emerge and since it is not known how long this occupation will last, the Canadian side does not want to wait.

" we want to go about our assistance in a pragmatic way. Assistance in the form food, health care, waters and demining. we do this directly with local communities," he said.

He explained these services are not for serving the American interests, but the Iraqi people and that the aim is providing support for the health care system, water sanitation system and ensure other services which help directly the Iraqi people at the local level.

He said that the Canadian help will also cover areas on improving the judicial system, providing advice for drawing the Iraqi constitution and building a civil society, designed electricity and assistance for the media. He said that the Canadian government is looking for indication from Iraq to be operational on that, adding that there are Canadian missions in Iraq to help these needs. With Canada's ultimate objective to enable the Iraqis to take their full future by their own hands, help them build up services, institutions they want, encourage their activity as representatives of Iraq's interest and basically facilitate the process of normalization of the Iraq's situation. Gaetan stressed that no body wants to see Iraq occupied militarily.

Talking about Canada's position on the war in Iraq and the relations with the United States, Gaetan said that Germany, France, and Russia were against the war on Iraq. He Said that Canada thought that more time should be given to inspection operations to give results, to put pressure on the Iraqi government to deliver concessions and in that sense Canada had agreed to stand with the said countries.

As for Canada's relations with the USA, Gaetan said the US is a powerful country. It is the predominant in the world economically and political. And this is a fact we have to deal with. He said that Canada cooperates with the US in issues like in fighting terrorism, on border issues, on the movement of people and good, in the NATO as well in defense matters. He said that although the USA and Canada are friends and partners, however, at the same time Canada pursues an independent policy.

Giving examples on disagreements between the two countries, Gaetan said that in the last 100 years there were 100 interventions by the USA in many parts of the world that Canada did not take part, like the war in Vietnam, when Canada saw things differently. He said that Canada just participated in few cases linked to a mandate by the UN Security Council. Another example is that Canada is in favor of the International Criminal Court which the Americans opposed. He added that Canada advocated a Convention on landmine, which the American did not. And the same is applicable to Ottawa agreement on environment on the Emission of toxic gases, and Canada Ratified the Kyoto agreement though it was costly for it, while the US stands in the opposite direction.

Gaetan said on Iraq, Canada has disagreed with the US. And Canada's position was built on principle on that the multilateral security system represented by the UN Security Council must be secured and for that very reason Canada decided not to participate militarily in the war.

He said that Canada will continue to pursue an independent policy and still she can talk to the Americans about all issues.

The meeting with the Canadian deputy foreign minister was an opportunity for enriching understanding to Canada's clear- cut position in supporting the realization of just and lasting ME peace in the context of the evolution of events in the area.

Previous Stories:
  Al-Shara confers with Canadian deputy FM   (5/23/2003)
  Canada withdraws its non- basic diplomats from the Middle East   (2/22/2003)
  On UNDOF mission in the Golan   (11/26/2002)
  Khaddam, al-Shara review with the Canadian parliamentary delegation Israel's aggression   (5/20/2002)

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