The President of Just and Comprehensive Peace

“Of course the problem lies in the lack of communication, not communication in the technological meaning, but in the human meaning. That is what we need; we need to have more dialogue, more communication. I do not think we are going to start this communication now between the Syrians and the Italians because we have a history of two thousand years, a common history. You know that Syria gave the Roman Empire eight Popes and five emperors. When the Pope came to Damascus last May, I told him we were watching your pilgrimage.”

“I say that there was a big problem at one point in the world particularly between East and West. The West has devoted all the media and all technological means in order to define the East but it didn’t use all these resources in order to get to know the East as it is. And so the East knew a lot about the West but the opposite is not true. The first message I carry with me is to try and introduce the East to the West and to introduce Arab issues as they really are and not just to Italy because Italy is a close country that probably knows the East better than any other European country. But it is an important entrance to Europe also. Without this accurate understanding of the West to the East, we can’t really speak about a healthy role that Europe can play. This takes us to the second part of the question: Can Europe with the US play the role? I think they can, certainly they can. But this is subject first to the desire of these parties and to their ability of those entrusted with this role, and second it is also dependent on their accurate knowledge of the situation. And third, it is subject to the desire of the conflicting parties in this role and their trust in the cosponsors. I can say in the name of all the Arab parties, that there is a trust in the European Union, they trust the European Union. And it is clear for everyone that Israel rejects the European role. The reason is that the European stand is an objective one, the fact that Israel doesn't like. What is clear until now is that the United States doesn't desire Europe to play a role that is expressive of a European independent stand and of a European identity. Until now the role that had been given to Europe by the United States is to market American ideas, but has not yet been allowed to play a role of its own making. But even the American Administration doesn't have a clear vision of how to conduct this peace process. Thereof I can’t see that the circumstances are prepared for this role to be played unless Europe wants to play this role in an independent fashion, and this would have its own prerequisites.”

" China is now a superpower and is very important after the absence of the Soviet Union. China’ s role has expanded across the world and has become more important especially for small countries including Syria. China now is a key element in international affairs. It is very important for several pressing issues and for the Middle East region, for the ME peace process, for Iraq and for terrorism combating."

" Our relation with Turkey has specific peculiarity.There are many things that link us to Turkey which helped start this relation quickly during the past few years,the most important of which are the joint desire and sincerity of dealing . The cause of Iraq came to make danger direct and same on Syria, Turkey and Iran which caused high level coordination among these states."

“A couple of days ago there was a statement that the European Union did not invite the Syrian President. Of course we responded in a clear manner. This shows that they do not accept any Arab to decline an invitation. It is incomprehensible for them that anyone might say no, even to an invitation to a conference. "

Many months ago, and before we received an official written invitation, when they were telling us that we should go, we said that this is a meeting concerning the Association Agreement, and I used to tell them that I will not go unless the Association Agreement is signed. So, we had already declined the invitation. But I mean that the method of cooperation comes in this framework. And regrettably, we as Arabs, taught them this. They should know our truth in Syria. We are not a state that accepts any relegation of our independence and free decision. “

“Of course, this economic relationship, even in the field of oil, did not start this decade. It has been there for a long time, but the fact is that what strengthened economic relations between Syria and Russia, in addition to the political relations, is the successful visit which I made to Moscow at the beginning of this year. One of the most important points during that visit was finding a solution to the problem of debt between the two countries that remained unsolved for long decades. Solving this problem opened the doors for economic cooperation in many areas. Signing this contract comes as part of this cooperation. This does not mean that the political relationship does not reflect positively and negatively on any economic relationship between Syria and Russia or between Syria and other countries.  “

“There is no doubt that Syria and Russia are now political allies, and it is natural that in a situation of political alliance benefits and merits are given to the companies in one of these two countries. On the other hand, and this is of course from a Syrian perspective, I do not think that Russia will take a political decision for this contract. There are interests much larger than this contract. As I said earlier, there are interests in the stability of the region and in the role of Syria. You know that there was no stability in this region. Now, particularly after the war on Iraq, which was the last ditch in the region`s stability, any political or military mistake in this region will push the region towards chaos. This will affect the southern borders of the Russian Federation. So, as I said, I believe that the economic dimension, the political dimension, in addition to stability represent the greater part of our relationship with Russia.”

“There is a conviction by all the Turkish institutions and strata, there is no exaggeration, of the importance of relationship with Syria. This is one thing. The other thing is that there is a conviction by Turkey and many countries in the world of the unjustness of what is happening with Syria these days, and that these pressures have political objectives and have nothing to do with the headlines being raised. I can say that the relationship with Turkey is moving in all the economic and political fields, security coordination, and the natural and historical social relations are also developing and becoming stronger with time. “

“I do not know what do they mean by greater or smaller Mideast. What concerns us is whether any proposals contradict our interests or not. When I criticize a terminology, I do so because it comes from abroad. We are the party in the ME which has to define the terminology. It is our main concern to decide whether we call ourselves a greater, smaller or medium ME. What is important is that the content of the terminology should not contradict with our interests, our normal historic relations and our culture. As an accumulation of history, when culture is encroached upon, negative consequences will destabilize the region. Culture can not be separate from other elements."

Irrespective of the intention of those who propose such terminology, I think no one outside our region understands our interests more than we do. Proposals must be made by states of the region. In other words, and with respect to views of others, we can not make research centers decide our future. Our history, our interests and our direct relations as states of the region decide. “

“We all follow up the current events…all of us recognize these events and the surrounding circumstances as well as their direct and indirect consequences are not the product of today but rather date back to past decades…but they have intensified in recent years…where the Arab people paid a dear price because of serious Western political projects which are strange to this region…They paid the debts of others from their own blood and their stability without having any interest or role in what is going on. And while we thought that the political changes in the 1990’s would lead to finding reasonable solutions to the chronic problems in our region as promised by the New World Order and its dreams, we found out that these problems had become more complicated and more confused…all pledges were only illusions or daydreams…We call this the New World Disorder…it’s only a name but the real content is the new world disorder because there is no order at all. At the same time new problems, not less dangerous than those previous, had emerged…they had rather been accumulated with them or resulted from them…new spots of tension, not leas than the previous in terms of heat and inflammability, had came to light and their consequences started to spread everywhere, causing problems to our Arab people…”

“Of course the international community is silent in such cases…when it comes to a simple statement that disturbs Israel a little bit …here the international community turns into an active and influential society with a tongue to speak and some times this tongue become fierce …but when it comes to a statement by an Israeli rabbi accusing the Arabs of being serpents that must be eliminated … or when US Congress says that there is an Arab country which must be pond with a nuclear weapon to eliminate …then this society keeps silent.”

“They want to turn the peoples and the world into a set of computers in which they insert information and operation systems and program them in their own way to use as they like whenever they want for their own interests. And when we agree on this, then we are described as nationalist, wise, realistic and democrats, otherwise, we are either terrorist or terrorism sponsors… and this terrorism has names that change with the circumstances and interests… we call this real fashion. We used to hear for decades about Palestinian terrorism then they began to talk about Lebanese terrorism during the civil war in Lebanon…today they are talking about Islamic terrorism…don’t be astonished if they put soon a new idiom called sovereign terrorism which is now actually being applied to countries which seek to establish its sovereignty.”

“" Iran is an important state in the region and its role is necessary for the region's security, in integration with the Arab role and not as an alternative,"

" I frankly said that some are talking negatively about an Iranian role…The only solution is through creating an effective Arab role, so let us, on the Arab level, move in the Iraqi direction because it poses the main axis for talking about the Iranian role."

"Syria's policy also seeks to expand its relations with different countries which are important through its permanent membership at the Security Council…but we also expand our relations with Asian countries in general and with Latin America. These relations are important now under the international conditions in which America unilaterally leads the world."

“We might wonder what motivates some officials in these countries to send messages and make statements concerning an ill prisoner.  They are so concerned for the medical condition of this prisoner.  What nobility!  What humanity!  What greatness!  We might ask as well, where are these same officials concerning the massacres perpetrated in Lebanon?  All those women, children and elderly people, and all this destruction and we have not heard anything from them, no messages, no protests, with the exception of some timid statements.  I say that this has struck at the heart of their credibility.  This means that there are other objectives for these messages.  We know these objectives, but things have now become very clear.  We might also ask that French official with burning enthusiasm, particularly concerning Syria, is he going to call for an international investigation committee to investigate the massacre of Qana, not to mention the other massacres, as he called for an investigation into the assassination of prime minister Hariri?  Is the reason here that in the first case the suspect was Syria, and this is sufficient motive and justification, and in the second the suspect is Israel, and nothing should be done.  Or is it that the children of Qana and other poor people do not deserve this official’s attention?”

“As usual, the only outlet for them is the Security Council which the USA has transformed from a council to preserve security into one that destroys it by issuing a resolution that responds to the demands of Israel and saves it from its predicament at the expense of Lebanon, paving the way for further division and instability.  If we go back to the Security Council resolutions issued in the past two years, i.e. resolutions 1559, 1860 and 1701, and those concerning Darfur for instance, among other resolutions, we would completely comprehend where the Security Council is heading to. It is heading towards interfering in the domestic affairs of member countries and creating turbulence. Some people say the Security Council is impotent, and this is not true. The Security Council was impotent when there was an international balance. Had the Security Council been impotent at present, the United States would not have relied on it to harm different places around the world. The truth is that the rest of the world, or perhaps most of it, has become impotent before the Security Council. We used to say “the international community”. The international community is a group of countries, some of which are members of the Security Council, and some are their allies outside the Security Council. They fight us with or without the Security Council resolutions, which means they will fight us anyway. Yet the Security Council resolutions give them more freedom to move in this fight. On the other hand, our weakness lies in the fact that when we speak of the Security Council -some people in the Arab World and in the world at large say this is a Security Council resolution, or this is what the Security Council wants- as if it were a council with a divine power, or as if its resolutions were sacred or revealed by God, and indeed this is dangerous.  “

“As for Iran , it is a country that has existed in the region from early history , but the Arabs who are absent from the political arena whether in the decision making or in shaping the future of the region.”

“Syria is a secular country and has no problem in cooperating with Iran and the Iranians have no problem in dealing with a pan-Arab state. If one looks to what is happening in Iraq , he will see that the western powers which are propagating secularism , are working to consolidate the non-religious  radical current in the Arab world.”

“ If Iran is feared because of her nuclear project, Iran says that it wants the nuclear project for peaceful means , a right guaranteed by international law. There is nothing to fear from Iran.”

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