Al-Assad back from Spain

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has refused an offer debated by the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi to mediate between Syria and Israel in order to revive the Middle East peace process, at a time when the Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres said that he does not have a plan for peace in the region, despite of his optimistic statements following his recent talks in Washington.

The Syrian president's stand, who arrived back on Friday evening following a three- day visit to Spain, was expressed during the meeting he held with Prodi and the EU ME peace coordinator Miguel Moratinos in a late hour of Thursday evening in Cordoba during which the situation in the ME and cooperation relations were reviewed.

A source at the Spanish foreign ministry said that the three men discussed during the meeting the role played by the European Union in the ME peace process.