Syrian Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister, Farouk al-Shara met Wednesday with Austrian President, Thomas Klestil.
In the course of the meeting, the Syrian Minister delivered a message to Klestil from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regarding the situation in the region and the danger of the Israeli brutal operations against the Palestinians, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.
In return, the Austrian president gave al-Shara a reply message to President al-Assad and included an invitation for the President to visit Vienna.
Earlier, al-Shara and his Austrian counterpart reviewed the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories as well as bilateral relations.
On his part, Al- Shara expressed appreciation for Austria’s position regarding the Middle East issue. Furthermore, he explained the Israeli inhuman practices and stressed the need Europe ought to play in ending aggression and reviving the Middle East peace process.
In statements to reporters following their discussions, al-Shara extended hope that the discussion over the recent Saudi peace initiative would lead to an Arab unified stand at the upcoming Arab summit in Beirut, scheduled for the end of this month.
He firmly criticized the Israeli “ugly practices” in the Palestinian self-ruled areas and not in Israel, emphasizing that these practices are not considered as acts of self-defense, according to SANA.
For his part, the Austrian Foreign Minister emphasized that if the Arabs come up with a unified Arab position, Europe would back the Arab initiative.
She welcomed sending US Special Envoy Anthony Zinni to the region and considered it as a positive sign on the road of finding a peaceful solution, the News Agency added.
Furthermore, she indicated that the European summit, which is due to be held in Lisbon at the end of this week, would review the current situation in the Middle East region, SANA said. (Albawaba.com)
