Assad urges Arabs to adopt common stance

Damascus, 2007 Nov 15, IRIB

Syrian Arab Republic President urged the Arab countries to enhance their mutual ties and thrash out a common stance against foreign threats.

Bashar Assad made the call in a meeting early Thursday with Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League in the Al-Shaab Palace.

"America seeks to influence Arabs to normalize their ties with Israel and to that effect it has designed the Annapolis meeting," Assad added.

Syria has made it clear it would sit the meeting only if the agenda of the meeting addresses the issue of the Golan Heights, occupied by the Zionist regime since 1967.

Assad reaffirmed that any international initiative which fails to restore the heights to Syria would be irrelevant and so could not guarantee a stable peace in the region.

Assad and Moussa also discussed Syria's preperations ahead of the next March Arab summit.

The Arab League official also informed the Syrian President about views and stance of the Arab heads regarding the Annapolis confab.