EU attempts to activate stalled Middle East peace process

Saeed Dhaher
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-09-07

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana (L) and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem at a news conference in Damascus Aug. 30. (Reuters/Khaled Al-Hariri)

BEIRUT – EU foreign policy and security coordinator Javier Solana attempted to breathe life into the moribund Middle East peace process through discussions in Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt.

Speaking in Beirut, Solana stated that efforts “are intensifying and gathering pace in advance of the meeting of the UN General Assembly [later this month that might] stimulate political activity within the peace process at this crucial point in history.” Solana met with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, transition leader Fouad Siniora, Prime Minister-elect Saad Al-Hariri, and Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblatt in Beirut. Solana emphasised that September is as a “month of reckoning,” insofar as the regional peace initiative, the fate of the sanction against Iran and developments in Afghanistan and Iraq are concerned

Solana later visited Damascus and met with President Bashar Al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem. He stated that it was his impression that, “The Syrian president wants to recommence negotiations with Israel.” He pointed this out at his meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, who responded, “If Al-Assad is genuine about wanting peace with Israel, then he must engage in direct negotiations without preconditions.”

In a communiqué, President Al-Assad reiterated “Syria’s unchanged goal of a just and comprehensive peace based on legitimate international resolutions.” On the subject of Iraq, Al-Assad said, “Syria has a direct and vested interest in Iraq’s security and stability. The need for national reconciliation in Iraq is paramount and will have many positive implications in anchoring security and stability for the Iraqi people.”

Al-Muallem spoke of the international Middle East peace conference currently under preparation in Washington and said, “What Syria wants for any peace conference is that it should be well prepared, and its terms of reference clarified in such a way that it will crown the advances of secondary processes.”

Sources: Al-Nahar/ Al-Jazeera/ Sada Suria

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