Damascus hosts today Egyptian-Jordanian-Syrian summit

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad today inaugurates the electricity grid station in Deir Ali district. The inaugurations ceremony will be held in the presence of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and the Jordanian King Abdullah Bin al-Hussein. The grid station at Deir Ali town, south of Damascus, ensures the linkage of electricity network of Syria Egypt and Jordan. It is part of the regional electricity grid that connects Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, Egypt's President Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan will hold a tripartite summit in Damascus today.

Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said the summit comes in the framework of the ceremony which will be held today marking the inauguration of Arab power linkage project among Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

Answering a question by reporters, Moussa said the three leaders would have an opportunity for making consultations on issues to be tackled by the Arab summit in Amman late this month besides regional and international problems in the light of the faltering of the peace process, bloody incidents in the occupied lands and discussions by the Arab foreign ministers.

Answering a question on whether there were Egyptian -Jordanian ideas for reactivating the peace process, Moussa said the peace process could not move in the light of the current circumstances, the siege on the Palestinians and disrupting parts of the west bank and Gaza.

Moussa said the siege could not create a favorable atmosphere to the peace process, blaming the Israeli government and the policy which is adopted by the new Israeli government.

He said what we are seeing today is disappointing. Answering a question on whether he believes that the appropriation of 40 million dollars per month as an advance to the (PNA) is useful in the framework of the siege, Moussa said it is not an advance adding the most important thing is to find a mechanism that could help assist the PNA confront the Israeli economic siege.

He said the siege makes it difficult to assist the besieged people adding the responsibility for this should be assumed by the Israeli policy which is collectively punishing the Palestinian people.

He said this collective punishment should be halted adding international community should face up to this move.

He said the Security Council is currently making consultations for holding a meeting.

He said the Security Council has been set up for addressing developments of this nature, which he described as dangerous and threatening to international and regional peace and security.

He said the Security Council should assume its responsibilities as preventing the security council from shouldering its responsibilities would weaken its role adding the Security Council should not selectively address certain issues and leave others as this would affect credibility of the new international regime.

On reports about the lack of trust between Arab countries and the Palestinian National Authority,(PNA) Moussa said the most important thing now is how to save the Palestinian people from the unjust Israeli siege.

Meantime, Sources at the Jordanian royal court stressed on Tuesday that King Abdullah II of Jordan will visit Damascus today and will meet with President Bashar al-Assad in the framework of Arab consultation before convening Amman's summit.

The sources said that King Abdullah will attend during his visit to Damascus the celebration marking the inauguration of the first phase of the electricity grid project due to be held in agreement between Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and Turkey.

The sources explained that this electricity grid project covers three phases which are expected to be completed in the year 2003 followed by the regional phase.

In this regard, the Jordanian minister of energy and mineral resources Wael Sabri said on Tuesday he will accompany King Abdullah in his visit to Syria today in order to take part in the said electricity grid line inauguration.