Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has strongly criticised Western policies in the Middle East, and warned that a war against Iraq would intensify terrorist activities.
During his last day of his official visit to Britain, Assad said Iraq did not pose a threat to the region, and suggested that any US-led military attack may have more to do with oil interests than weapons of mass destruction.
Speaking to journalists Tuesday at a seminar hosted by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, Assad also dismissed proposed reforms to the Palestinian Authority.
The Syrian leader said that the issue was a bid by Israel to install a more submissive Palestinian leadership, The Times quoted him as saying. "They (the Israelis) want to weaken (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat to bring a group of people with good relations with Israel," the paper wrote. "The result will be turbulence in the Middle East. The result of reforms will be destruction."
The Times reported that Assad said the main cause of the conflict in the Middle East was Israel's occupation of Arab lands. Serious reform was impossible until the Israelis withdrew.
"People are trying to address the symptoms rather than the root cause (of the problem). This is what I call the tactic of the ostrich that buries its head in the sand," he said.
The Syrian president was reported to have defended Palestinian suicide attacks in Israel. "The Israelis have actual bombs that they put on planes and missiles and drop on Palestinian homes and kill Palestinians. The Palestinians do not have missiles and F16s (fighter bombers), so they go by themselves and kill Israelis. If we want to condemn the bombs, we have to condemn both sides."
He argued that regardless of his difference of opinion with Britain and the West over the violence, all sides wanted the same outcome — a peaceful solution. “Why waste time debating the right or wrong? The more protracted our discussion, the longer this violence will continue.”
Assad also said that although Syria had had disagreements with Baghdad, he did not regard the regime of Saddam Hussein as a threat to the region, The Times added.
"The priorities the United States has set are not convincing and they are not really related to weapons of mass destruction and (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein. "There is a great conviction in your region and in our region that the big issue is oil." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
