Last update - 00:00 14/10/2006
Spanish FM, in Syria, says both countries committed to regional peace
By The Associated Press
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, meeting in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad on the Middle East peace process, said Saturday that the two countries are committed to bring peace to the region.
Moratinos told reporters upon arrival in Damascus that he was visiting Syria on behalf of Spain, not the European Union. He is the only Western official who has been visiting Syria after U.S. and European officials stopped coming here following last year's assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Anti-Syrian Lebanese have accused Syria of being behind the killing, a claim that Syria strongly denies.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Assad, the Spanish official said his visit aimed to "continue to engage with the Syrian authorities" about bringing peace to region.
Moratinos added that efforts must go toward reaching a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
Israeli-Syrian peace talks broke down in 2000, with Syria demanding assurances that Israel would return the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Israel wanted modifications to the pre-1967 border and insisted that the issues of security arrangements and normalization be spelled out first.
"I think at this juncture all efforts are needed to unite to overcome the different difficulties ... we come to the conclusion that only a comprehensive peace can be the solution of the situation we are now witnessing," Moratinos said in English.
When asked what role Spain could play to revive peace talks between Syria and Israel, Moratinos said "we have to put everybody on the mode of commitment to work together for peace."
Egyptian intelligence chief meets Meshal, discusses PA unity gov't
Egypt's intelligence chief held talks Saturday with Hamas' exiled political leader in Damascus on forming a Palestinian unity government and swapping prisoners for a kidnapped Israeli soldier, a Hamas official said.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshal met with Omar Suleiman about containing the conflict between the ruling Hamas and Fatah party, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in a telephone interview from Lebanon.
The talks came amid tension that has lead to violent street clashes in the Palestinian territories between Hamas and its rival Fatah.
Fatah's leader, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has advocated recognizing Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state on parts of the West Bank and Gaza.
Hamas has refused, and talks over forming a power-sharing government have stalled over the issue.
On Friday, Meshal said Hamas would not recognize Israel, but it wants to join a national unity government with Abbas' rival Fatah faction.
He also said Hamas was ready to swap captured Israeli soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit for Palestinian prisoners.
In Syria, Hamas minister repeats refusal to recognize Israel
Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Seyam of Hamas arrived Friday in Syria, where he is expected to holds talks with government officials and the exiled Hamas leadership.
On arrival, Seyam reiterated that Hamas would not recognize Israel, a sticking point that has blocked efforts to forge a national unity government with Fatah.
"Non-recognition of Israel is a constant of Hamas," Seyam said in a statement on his arrival in Damascus from Iran. "Nobody has the right to demand that Hamas recognize Israel because up to now Israel does not recognize the existence and the rights of the Palestinian people."
The exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, whom Seyam is expected to meet during his Syrian, repeated the party's long-standing refusal to acknowledge Israel's right to exist at a press conference in Damascus on Thursday night.
Recognition of Israel is a major demand of the U.S., the European Union and Israel for lifting sanctions on Hamas, which took over the Palestinian Authority's government after beating Fatah in the January legislative elections.
Recognition was also the main element in a failed initiative by Qatar to mediate the ongoing dispute between Hamas and Fatah.
"We want to establish our state, and if the world wants to be fair, it should pressure Israel and not the owners of the right [to a state]," Seyam said.
Hamas has not said who Seyam will see during his Syrian visit, but he is expected to meet members of Hamas' exiled leadership and officials of the Syrian government, which has long withstood U.S. pressure to evict the leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.