London's al-Shara- Straw talks
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara and his British counterpart Jack Straw on Monday discussed latest developments in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories as well as the issues on the UN Security Council agenda in light of Britain's duty presidency of the Council.
The al-Shara-Straw talks also touched upon bilateral relations between Syria and the UK on one side and between Syria and the EU on the other. Points of view were similar on that signing the association agreement between Syria and the EU would further widen cooperation between the two sides.
The meeting was attended from the Syrian side by Deputy Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, Syria's Ambassador in London Sami al-Khiyami, and from the British side by Baroness Simons Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, the British Ambassador in Damascus and Director of Middle East and North Africa at the British Foreign Ministry.
In a joint news conference held at the end of talks, al-Shara described as "good and constructive" his talks with Straw, adding the discussions centered on the situations in Iraq and the international conference due next month mainly with the participation of Iraq's neighboring countries and the G8 Group.
Both sides also talked about the situations in the Middle East, particularly in the occupied Palestinian territories, and about the bilateral relations between Syria and Britain as well as the association agreement between Syria and the EU.
Straw expressed relief over the achievement of the Syria-EU Association Agreement which would be signed on Tuesday in Brussels.
For his part, al-Shara thanked Straw for inviting him to visit Britain, adding that talks centered on the current situations in Iraq "where we asserted that the forthcoming elections there should be comprehensive in all Iraqi provinces with the participation of all Iraqis so that they become legitimate as sought by the Iraqi people." Al-Shara added that "we also welcomed the idea of convening an international conference on Iraq to help the country establish stability and maintain its national and territorial unity."
On the situations in the region, al-Shara stressed that peace must be just and comprehensive based on the internationally-backed legitimacy resolutions, pointing out in this regard to the Arab peace initiative endorsed by the Arab Summit in Beirut 2002.
Answering a question on the UN Security Council resolution 1559, al-Shara questioned "the legitimacy of the UN Security Council intervention in the internal affairs of countries bound by distinguished relation of fraternity and friendship while the Security Council doesn't concern itself with what is happening in the occupied Palestinian territories where Israel practices all forms of killings, destruction as what happened in Jabalia refugee camp, in Gaza Strip."
Al-Shara said Syria still considers that the peaceful solution constitutes the correct and sound way for the restoration of the occupied lands and usurped rights, citing the Israeli failure to impose its military solution.
