Al-Assad gets message from Mubarak, telephones from Clinton, Putin and Chirac on explosive conditions

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday at the Damascus al-Shaab presidential palace received Egypt's foreign minister Amr Moussa. Present at the meeting were the foreign minister Farouk al-Shara and Egypt's ambassador in Damascus Muhammad Ahmad Ismael.

Moussa conveyed to President al-Assad a message from President Hosni Mubarak on current conditions and the forthcoming Arab summit.

Talks dealt with the tense situation resulted from the aggressive Israeli acts in Palestine and the region and the efforts exerted by the Arabs to defend the Palestinian people, their legitimate cause and the holy sites.

On Sunday evening, President Bashar al-Assad received a telephone call from the US President Bill Clinton, during which talks dealt with recent developments and the escalation of events in the occupied region and in south Lebanon.

President Bashar al-Assad expressed his hope that the US administration will use its influence on Israel so as to carry out necessary steps conducive to halting the escalation..

President al-Assad said that " solving the problem should be integral and not partial. He held Israel responsible for the escalation and the resulting tension."

Al-Assad also received a telephone call from Russian President Vladimir Putin during which talks dealt with current conditions in the region, the aggressive attacks against the Palestinian and Lebanese people and bilateral relations. It was agreed between the two presidents that Putin will delegate his foreign minister Igor Ivanov to Damascus.

President al-Assad also received a telephone call from the French President Jacques Chirac during which talks dealt with the recent escalation took place in the region as a result of the Israeli provocation and the Israel over-use of force against the Palestinians and the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Later in the day, Russia's foreign minister Igor Ivanov arrived in Damascus in a visit to Syria. He was welcomed at Damascus airport by the foreign minister al-Shara and the Russian ambassador in Damascus.

In an arrival statement to SANA, Ivanov stressed his country's full backing to Syria to restore back its lands according to UN resolutions 242 and 338. He also called for the resumption of negotiations on the Syrian track as one of the most important elements for a comprehensive development in the Middle East. He stressed that Russia has always welcomed the realization of a progress on all ME peace tracks, taking into account that this is the only way to achieve peace in the region.

Concerning the Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians Ivanov stressed the need of ending the acts of violence and not to permit the escalation of confrontation. He added that the only way to achieve peace in the ME is through negotiations.