Syria: Opportunity to revive peace talks created
In interview with Arab newspaper, Syrian foreign minister says war in Lebanon created limited opportunity to revive peace process; simultaneously, he warns his Arab colleagues of getting their hopes up that Security Council will resume peace process in Middle East
He added, however, that the opportunity was "limited" and would be in danger with the absence of international pressure.
In an interview with the London-based Arabic-language al-Sharq al-Awsat from New York, where he attended the United Nations General Assembly, the Syrian foreign minister warned his Arab colleagues of getting their hopes up that the Security Council would resume the peace process in the Middle East.
He added that the meeting between the Arab League's foreign ministers and the Security Council, in which the Arab League members planned to present their peace, was a positive thing.
He said, however, that "we must not get our hopes up, since it took the Security Council 33 days to reach a decision on a ceasefire in Lebanon. We are not raising our expectations under the international atmosphere which is controlled by one force in the world."
'Syrian army will deploy along border'
According to the Syrian foreign minister, the problems of the region must be dealt with and the peace process must be revived.
"We believe that after the war in Lebanon there is an opportunity. The question is, is this a great opportunity? The answer, we believe, is that this is not a big opportunity and that the international community, if it possesses the firmness and desire, can expand and turn this into a real opportunity for peace and for dealing with the problems of the entire region on all their aspects.
"However, if it does not wish to do so, due to the Israeli pressure and the American hegemony on the situation, I believe that this opportunity would be lost and the region would be subjected to all dangers," he said.
Moallem used harsh words to condemn the American policy in the Middle East, saying that it was an erroneous policy.
"The mistakes of this American policy in our region have been proven. It brought about the destruction we see in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon," he said.
The Syrian foreign minister reiterated that his country rejects the request for UNIFIL force to deploy UNIFIL along its border with Lebanon, and added that his country would be the one to deploy its army along the border.
