- Title: SYRIA: France and Syria should work together to solve Lebanon crisis
- Date: 31st December 2007
- Summary: (MER2) DAMASCUS, SYRIA (DECEMBER 30, 2007) (REUTERS) U.S. SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER ARRIVING AT HALL FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAS SPECTER ADDRESSING REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER SAYING: "Syria has a great influence, if not control, in Lebanon. Again I say I make no judgement, I am citing what I think to be the international perception, and it would
- Embargoed: 15th January 2008 12:00
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- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA9HE5QO6UM5MLU95HNNWPD7Y2C
- Story Text: U.S. Senator Arlen Specter tells a news conference in Damascus that it is important for Syria and France to work together to find an answer to Lebanon's political crisis.
Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania told a news conference in Damascus on Sunday (December 30) that it was important for that Syria and France work together to find an answer to Lebanon's political crisis.
"Syria has a great influence, if not control, in Lebanon. Again I say I make no judgement, I am citing what I think to be the international perception, and it would be very important if the efforts of Syria and France working together can find an answer to the Lebanese issue," Specter told a news conference after a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Specter's comments came as French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Sunday he had told his government to suspend diplomatic contacts with Syria until Paris has proof that Damascus is working for a consensus president in Lebanon.
Speaking in Egypt after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Sarkozy said he had no regrets about his previous contacts with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but the time had come for deeds rather than words from Syria.
Lebanon has had no president since Nov. 23 due to disagreements between the anti-Syrian ruling coalition and the Damascus-backed opposition over the country's political orientation.
Rival leaders have agreed on army chief General Michel Suleiman as a consensus candidate to be president but they are still wrangling over how to share power once he takes office.
The conflict reflects a regional struggle for influence between Syria and Iran on one side, and the United States and its European and Arab allies on the other.
France played a lead role in mediating the agreement on Suleiman's candidacy and has been frustrated that the deal has not yet gone through.
Assad held talks with Specter and Democratic Representative Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island which were expected to focus on restarting peace talks with Israel.
Specter and Kennedy held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday (December 26) during which Olmert said he was interested in restarting peace talks with Syria but was awaiting a signal from Damascus first.
Olmert has for months passed messages to Syria through third parties, including U.S. lawmakers, seeking assurances peace talks would lead Damascus to sever ties with Hamas Islamists in control of the Gaza Strip, with the Hezbollah guerrilla group in Lebanon and with Iran, Israeli officials said.
Syria took part in a U.S.-sponsored conference on Palestinian statehood after Washington agreed to allow discussion of the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed in a move not recognised internationally.
Assad has set his own preconditions for revived talks with Israel: Olmert's commitment to a full withdrawal from the Golan.
"The United States government will be a party to broker conversations but this is going to evolve step-by-step from what has happened in Annapolis and what the sense is in Jerusalem today and what my sense is in Damascus today," Specter told the news conference.
Tensions flared between the Syria and Israel when the Israeli air force carried out a strike inside Syrian territory on Sept. 6. Some U.S. officials have linked the raid to suspicions of secret nuclear cooperation between Damascus and North Korea.
Damascus and North Korea have denied any nuclear ties. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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