Tunisian president meets with Syrian Premier

President Zine Al-Abidin Ben Ali received in Tunis on Tuesday Prime Minister Naji Otari who conveyed President Bashar al-Assad invitation for President Ben Ali to visit Syria, who accepted it.

President Ben Ali called for enhancing bilateral relations of cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, culture and tourism and to promote them to the level of the standing distinguished political relations between the two states.

The Syrian and Tunisian sides signed cooperation agreements in the fields of Higher Education, Culture, Housing and Construction, Administration, Environment, Oil and Gas, Labor, Tourism, Science, Technology and Economy.

In the political domain, the two sides expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian lands and the Palestinian people's sufferings due to the Israeli occupation, asserting the two countries' support to the brotherly Palestinian people's legitimate struggle against the occupation.

They also stressed complete commitment to the Arab peace initiative approved by Beirut summit as a base for the realization of just and comprehensive peace in the region, calling on the international community to actively interfere to protect the Palestinian people and to compel Israel to commit itself to the relevant international charters and laws.

Both sides asserted the importance of the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Golan to the line of June fourth 1967 and from all other occupied lands, calling on the international community to compel Israel to implement resolutions 242, 338, 425 and stop blocking the resumption of peace negotiations on all tracks.

They reiterated adherence to peaceful dialogue to solve all disputes and avoid using force, asserting the necessity of freeing the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction because they threaten the world's security and stability.