Specter conveys message from Netanyahu to President al-Assad

In a press conference he held in Damascus before he headed for Cairo, US Senator Arlen Specter said on Thursday that he had conveyed a message from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to President Hafez al-Assad.

Specter told reporters in Damascus before he left for Cairo that he briefed President al-Assad on the results of President US Clinton's visit to Israel and Gaza. Specter added that he and President al-Assad held talks he described as "good, frank and intensive."

He said that he informed President al-Assad that the US president is trying to make the Syrian and Israeli sides resume their talks, which were suspended in 1996. The US senator added that he asked President al-Assad to try to convince Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to allow UN weapons inspectors to have free access to all Iraqi weapons sites. The AP said that Specter and President al-Assad discussed the issue of Iraq during their meeting on Wednesday just few hours before the missile attacks launched by the US and Britain against Baghdad for its defiance of the UN inspectors.

Meanwhile, Monte Carlo radio said Specter announced that he had discussed with President Hafez al-Assad the possibility that leaders in the Middle East will meet to convince Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to open all sites to the UN inspection committees.