Syria backs postponing next week's Euro-Mediterranean conference in Marseilles because the bloody conflicts in the Palestinian territories make meeting Israel "extremely difficult," the official SANA agency reported Tuesday.
That message was passed on to French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine by his Syrian counterpart, Farouq al-Shara, during a telephone call, SANA said.
Shara clarified with Vedrine the Syrian position over the postponement of this conference, outlining the Syrian position on the postponement of the conference, "taken in line with the decisions of the Arab summit and because of the bloody events," the agency said.
Syria called on Arab countries Saturday not to attend the conference, which Israel plans to attend.
Shara said Damascus would push its position at Wednesday's meeting in Qatar of the Organization of the Islamic Conference foreign ministers.
The EuroMed conference gathers countries that border the Mediterranean Sea and is scheduled for November 15-16.
Shara said Syria's position was in line with measures adopted at last month's summit of Arab leaders in Cairo, which called for an end to multilateral meetings that include the Jewish state.
"Our problem as Arabs is that certain among us don't respect these decisions. But Syria and Lebanon are the first to respect resolutions of the Arab summit and the United Nations," said Shara, whose country is the main powerbroker in Lebanon – DAMASCUS (AFP)
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