Syria wants Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction
Syria-Russia, Politics, 3/13/2006

Syria expects the Middle East region to be free of weapons of mass destruction, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muaallem said on Sunday.

The situation in the Middle East is very complicated at present, and "the policy of the United States and the Israeli occupation complicate the situation," Muaallem said after arriving in Moscow for a four-day visit, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

"Syria supports the initiative of turning the Middle East into a region free from weapons of mass destruction," he said.

Muaallem's talks with Russian officials are expected to focus on the UN probe into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and the situation in the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

Syria has been under intense international pressure following the killing of Hariri last February in a massive truck bombing. Many Lebanese believed Damascus was behind Hariri's death. Syria denied any role but was forced to withdraw its troops from its smaller neighbor last April.

Syria has active contacts with the UN commission investigating Hariri's murder and expects a report by chief UN investigator Serge Brammertz to be "objective," Muaallem said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said on Saturday Moscow stands for finding out the whole truth about the killing and all sides should offer full assistance to the probe. "We are satisfied to note that Syria has confirmed its readiness to cooperate with the international commission probing the crime," Kamynin said.

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