Syrian Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam on Thursday (February 27) criticised Israel’s decision to build a new Jewish housing project in Arab East Jerusalem as counter to Middle East peace.
After a 90-minute meeting with French President Jacques Chirac, Syrian Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam told reporters: “In the light of Isreal’s recent initiatives, we can say that this country does not want peace. Syria wants peace, France wants peace, but Israel does not.” Chirac’s spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said the French leader had voiced his concern after an Israeli cabinet committee approved plans to build 6,500 homes on Jabal Abu Ghneim, known by Israelis as Har Homa, in East Jerusalem on land captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Chirac told Khaddam it was vital to relaunch Arab-Israeli peace negotiations and France was ready to make a contribution, she said.
The president also expressed worries about a deterioration in violence in south Lebanon and called for restraint on all sides, including by the Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas who operate from areas controlled by Syrian troops.
Peace talks between Israel and Syria have been frozen since hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elected last May. Paris has been involved in efforts to revive peace talks between the Jewish state, Damascus and Beirut. It has offered to join in policing the Israel-Lebanon border if a comprehensive agreement is reached.
Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam together with his Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara will leave Paris tonight and will continue their trip which will take them to other European cities.
