Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara’ on Monday asserted that the world has been going through difficult times since 9/11, adding that this is particularly true for Americans and the Middle East.
Al-Shara’, delivering his speech at the 59th Session of the UN General Assembly on Monday, asked "why would billions of dollars be spent to bring about a regime change in a given country when these resources could be otherwise channeled to finance education or develop projects in development countries?"
Regarding Israel, Al-Shara’ said that Israel hopes to incite the Americans to wage "endless wars" in the Middle East and to underscore the Israeli theory that the Arab-Israeli conflict is not the core of the problem of the region.
He added that "to prove our point we refer to the arguments promoted by Israel that the situation in Iraq and its repercussions is more dangerous and complicated than that prevailing in the occupied territories. Sharon is trying to mislead the world into believing that he is standing up to the Jewish settlers before being able to withdraw from the West Bank."
The Syrian Foreign Minister asserted that Israel diverts the attention of the world and camouflage the settlement activities in the occupied territories, while continuing to build the "racial segregation wall," and diminishing the importance of the state terror perpetrated by Israel on a daily basis.
Shara’ asserted that Israel bears an important share of the responsibility for intensifying and worsening the American predicament in Iraq by avoiding the resumption of the peace process despite the hands extended in peace by the Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese.
He added that "this Israeli course of action may come beck to haunt it in the future because its continued occupation of the Arab lands is a major cause of the rejection of the American policies in the broader Middle East…. This is also true in Europe where polls conducted a year ago showed that most of the citizens of the European Union believe that Israel poses a threat to the international peace."
Regarding Iraq, Al-Shara’ said that "Syria, a neighboring country directly concerned with what is going on in Iraq. "We are ready to cooperate with the neighboring countries and all the parties concerned, including the UN to enable the Iraqis to govern themselves, manage their resources and establish the optimal relations with their neighbors". (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
