Al-Shara discusses with al-Qaddoumi developments in the Palestinian territories
The Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara on Sunday received the chairman of the PLO political department Farouk al-Qaddoumi and members of the accompanying delegation.
Present at the meeting were the deputy foreign minister Suleiman Haddad, the director of the Arab states department at the foreign ministry Issa Darwish and the PLO representative in Damascus Mahmoud al-Khalidi.
Talks dealt with developments in the Palestinian territories and following up the resolutions of the Arab summit and continued backing for the Palestinian Intifada.
Following the meeting al-Qaddoumi told journalists at the premises of the Syrian foreign ministry that his talks with the Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara aimed at strengthening relations and coordination with Syria, according to principles which " guarantee our rights," referred to by President Bashar al-Assad in his speech at the recent Amman's summit conference.
On Arafat's forthcoming visit to Damascus. Al-Qaddoumi said that contacts continue and this summit will be at the level of the summit and will be held very soon, noting that the main base and work program will be laid for cooperation.
Replying to a question on the main principles on which Syria-Palestinian coordination will be built, Qaddoumi said that the principles are Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories, support for the Palestinian Intifada and the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, the continuity of the Intifada, the return back of the refugees to their homeland, complete withdrawal from east Jerusalem with full Palestinian sovereignty on Jerusalem, the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state of the borders of June 4, 1967 and the establishment of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as a capital.
Al-Qaddoumi underlined the importance of consultation and coordination in steps taken noting that:" The question of Palestine is the essence of the Arab- Israeli conflict and because of that the Arab, all the Arabs, have fought for the sake of Palestine because it represents national security and any violation of national security is a destabilization to the neighboring states in particular and the Arab states in general."
