Ex-president Jimmy Carter
Photo: Reuters
Carter on mission to improve US-Syria relations
During meeting with Assad former US president says Israel is sincere in wanting peace with Syria but no 'genuine peace' can be achieved unless Israel surrenders 'Arab territories it occupies'
Former US President Jimmy Carter predicted Saturday an improvement in US-Syrian relations under President-elect Barack Obama and expressed hope that full diplomatic relations would be restored.
Carter said he had "full confidence" that Obama will carry out the promises he made during his campaign. "I don't have any doubt that the situation will improve between the United States and Syria after we have a new president," he said.
Carter spoke to reporters in Damascus following a meeting he held with President Bashar Assad.
Refusing the Date
Associated Press
Former US president expresses disappointment at Hizbullah's refusal to meet him
The former US president said he hoped a new US ambassador would be sent to Damascus soon.
"It's my hope that we can also see full diplomatic relations and friendship restored between Damascus and Washington at an early day in the new year," he said
Washington had pulled out its ambassador from Syria following the 2005 assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, for which Damascus was widely blamed. Syria strongly denies the accusations.
Carter arrived in Syria from neighboring Lebanon where he spent five days talking to political leaders and offered that his Atlanta-based Carter Center monitor parliament elections there next year.
In his meeting with Assad, Carter discussed prospects for peace in the Middle East. He said Israel is sincere in wanting peace with Syria but stressed that no "genuine peace" could be achieved unless Israel withdrew from Arab territories it occupies in Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
"You can't expect genuine peace between Israel and any of its neighbors until it has peace with all of its neighbors," he said.
Continuing meetings with Hamas
Carter is also expected to meet in Damascus Sunday with the exiled leadership of Hamas. His first meeting with Khaled Mashaal in April drew sharp criticism from the Bush administration which labels Hamas as a terrorist group.
However Carter said he intends to continue meeting with Hamas leaders "because the Carter Center is deeply interested in seeing peace come to this region, which needs dialogue with all the parties."
Carter, who served as US president from 1977-1981, brokered the 1978 Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his conflict mediation while in office and afterward.
In a lecture he gave Friday in Beirut, Carter said Iran and Syria – both supporters of Hizbullah and Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad – could have a major role in Mideast peacemaking efforts.
Carter also urged President-elect Barack Obama to take a "leadership role" in the peacemaking process and said the US should get involved in the Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel.
