Syrian Vice-President Abdel Halim Khaddam said Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s conditions for allowing Syria to attend a proposed regional conference mean that peace is impossible.
It was the first Syrian reaction to eight conditions Sharon laid down on Monday that Damascus would have to meet if it wished to join a regional peace conference proposed by Sharon.
Sharon told a meeting of the Knesset foreign and security committee that Syria should expel 11 “terrorist organizations” operating on its territories; deport Iranian Revolutionary Guards from Lebanon; prevent arms shipments to and halt assistance to Hezbollah; allow the deployment of the Lebanese Army on the border with Israel; dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure; end Syria’s presence in Lebanon; and offer information to Israel about its prisoners and missing.
To meet Sharon’s conditions, observers said, would mean a complete reversal of Syria’s policies.
Sharon’s conditions, Khaddam said, means peace is impossible. He spoke during a meeting with Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblat in the village of Mukhtara in the Shuf mountains.
Khaddam also referred to “some countries which support this criminal murderer [Sharon] who is leading Israel to destruction,” in an apparent reference to the United States.
