Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will make a trip to Syria soon, according to PA International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath, who is currently in Damascus.
Shaath arrived in the Syrian capital on Friday to set a date for Arafat’s visit, which has been delayed several times.
“Arafat's visit will transform Syrian-Palestinian relations for the better,” Shaath said, adding that there was a bilateral consensus to coordinate policies and consultations at this critical time in the Arab-Israeli crisis, the official Kuwaiti news agency, KUNA, quoted him as saying.
"We are fighting the Israeli occupation with a popular Intifada which gets all the support of the people of Syria," he said, noting that the “Palestinians are committed to a peaceful settlement of the Middle East crisis as much as Syria is.”
Arafat's visit to Damascus has been planned since the March Arab summit in Amman, on the sidelines of which Arafat and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad held talks.
Relations chilled between Syria and the Palestinians after the 1993 Oslo peace accords between the Palestinians and Israel, which Damascus charges broke the solidarity of Arab negotiators against the Jewish state in exchange for a deal which would not lead to a comprehensive peace.
Arafat has not made an official visit to Syria in five years, but did attend the funeral of Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez, in June 2000.
KUNA said that Shaath met with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Shara and discussed the latest events in the region.
Shaath, meanwhile, said that US President George W. Bush's comments on the unrest in the Occupied Territories were a "green light" for Israel to kill more Palestinians.
On Friday, Bush urged Arafat to put "100 percent effort" into stopping the Middle East "violence" and blamed him for the stalled peace process.
"If Mr. Arafat is interested in having a dialogue ... then I strongly urge him to urge the Palestinian terrorists to stop the suicide bombings, stop the incursions, stop the threats," Bush told reporters at his Texas ranch.
Shaath told reporters after his meeting with Shara that "the statements of President Bush prove once again that the American authorization to assassinate Palestinians continues, since Israel commits assassinations thanks to American permission.
"The United States risks taking the entire responsibility for the continuation of violence and for the victims in both camps," Shaath said, adding that "it seems that this declaration is aimed at torpedoing all dialogue with the Israelis under the supervision of the United States."
That was a reference to a meeting agreed to in principle earlier this week, to be held between Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Arafat – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
