SYRIA/ GERMANY: German Foreign Minister urges Syria to use its influence with Palestinians and Lebanese to bring about stability in the Middle East.

Record ID: 279254

  • Title: SYRIA/ GERMANY: German Foreign Minister urges Syria to use its influence with Palestinians and Lebanese to bring about stability in the Middle East.
  • Date: 5th December 2006
  • Summary: STEINMEIER ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "I was a witness on the weak situation in Lebanon especially after Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel's assassination. I urge all parties to do their best to prevent the violence and I call on Syria to avoid any actions which directly or
  • Embargoed: 20th December 2006 12:00
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAEY3KUK2M2I3RE7EU2JDB7N2BI
  • Story Text: Germany urged Syria on Monday (December 4) to use its influence with its Lebanese and Palestinian allies to help maintain Lebanon's stability and promote the Middle East peace process.
    "I call on Syria to avoid any actions which directly or indirectly might lead to the destabilisation of Lebanon," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after meeting President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian capital.
    "I urge Syria to use its influence on Hamas to help the peace process," he said at a news conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem.
    Germany has been part of a Western campaign to isolate Syria over its alleged role in last year's killing in Beirut of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Damascus denies involvement.
    Berlin, with several other European governments, had been reconsidering its policy of no high-level contacts with Damascus, especially after the war earlier this year between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which Syria backs.
    In his talks with Moualem, Steinmeier urged Syria to persuade Hezbollah to end demonstrations that had brought hundreds of thousands of government opponents on to the streets of Beirut, German delegation officials said.
    Syria, the dominant foreign power in Lebanon until forced to pull out its troops there last year, supports Hezbollah's view that the Western-backed government in Beirut is unrepresentative but says it does not interfere in Lebanese internal affairs.
    Syrian officials say Damascus wants stability in the region, but Israel must not be allowed to hold to occupied land.
    The Damascus government backs efforts to form a Palestinian national unity government, although the ruling Hamas movement, whose exiled leader Khaled Meshaal lives in Syria, has been locked in dispute with its rival Fatah over the proposed administration.
    Steinmeier said Syria is an important player in the region but it needs to play a constructive role to ensure German involvement.
    The German minister is on the last leg of a four-day Middle East tour designed to bring him in contact with key Middle East decision-makers before Germany takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union next month.
    Syria urged Germany to play a decisive role in helping to solve the region's conflicts when it assumes the EU and Group of Eight presidencies next year.
    "With Lebanon, we said that basically there is no obstacles to exchange diplomatic relations with Lebanon but when the time is convenient. Some people's positions in Lebanon are not positive concerning Syria and do not encourage to take such action," Moualem said,
    Syria hopes the EU can support its goal of regaining the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, as part of the so-called Middle East Quartet, which also includes the United States, the United Nations and Russia.
    During his tour, which took him to Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Israel, Steinmeier said Germany and the EU could only play a supporting role and the key to progress lay in Washington.
    In August, he cancelled a trip to Syria at the last minute after Assad gave a speech denouncing Israel and the United States.
    Also on Monday, Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh also had talks with the Syrian president in the second day of his visit to Syria. Al-Assad expressed his support for an independent Palestinian stage and Haniyeh spoke about his future plans.
    "We proposed our vision for the Palestinian-Palestinian conversation concerning the formation of a National Unity Government and we clarified the steps that we offered from our side to succeed the national unity government. I say that the jargon of 'blockage' in the internal Palestinian relations is not to be used. The conversation should still open and we have to continue in the Palestinian-Palestinian discussion. But if there were some parties want to close the door of conversation in Palestine they will be the only responsible of the results caused by this stoppage".
    Hanyeh arrived in Damascus on Sunday on a four-day visit to discuss the formation of national unity government with Syrian officials and Hamas leaders.
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