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Syrian President Bashar Assad
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| By israelinsider staff and partners April 18, 2007 |
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Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said at a press conference in Damascus Monday that Syria would regain control of the Golan Heights "by way of resistance if Israel [rejects] the Arab peace initiative," The Jerusalem Post reported.
This threat immediately followed Bilal's insistence that "Syria wishes to revive the peace process with Israel with the help of US and Russian mediators."
Bilal did not provide any details, but The Jerusalem Post reported that some analysts believe a full scale conventional war or a terror campaign in the Golan are likely options for a Syrian "resistance."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he does not believe Syria is preparing to launch a war against Israel, but is preparing to defend itself in the event that it is attacked.
Olmert addressed the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in response to Bilal's explicit threat of resistance in Arabic.
In an interview with the Arabic daily Dar al Hayat Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar Assad, "We are working daily to strengthen our defenses. We always prepare ourselves. Israel is a fierce enemy. We have seen nothing from it but harm.
"We do not know whether war will take place, but we should not disregard this possibility. We are apprehensive vis- -vis Israel," Assad added.
Just last week, Syrian-born American business mogul Abe Suleiman visited Jerusalem and met with Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, assuring them that "peace with Syria could be achieved within six months."
However, a Syrian member of parliament, George Jabour, made sure to clarify that Suleiman has no connection to the Syrian leadership and "has zero credibility in the eyes of Syrians," The Jerusalem Post reported.
Mohsen Bilal also discussed Syria's plan for achieving comprehensive peace in the Middle East during an interview on Syrian TV last Saturday, defining "just and comprehensive peace" as the return of the "whole occupied Syrian Golan," the Lebanese territories under occupation, and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Bilal also demanded the Palestinian right of return.
President Assad confirmed this in Wednesday's interview, saying, "The Syrian position does not waive any inch of land, and there will be no negotiations before Israel recognizes the full return of the Golan Heights. At that point, we would then announce," Assad said.
Israel captured the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, in which Syria attacked Israel. Knesset passed legislation in 1981 that effectively made the entire Golan Heights Israeli territory.
Jerusalem Newswire contributed to this article. |
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