Syria rejected Israel’s demand that Damascus cut its ties with Iran and Arab militant groups as a condition for a peace agreement, a state newspaper said on Saturday.
The announcement comes even as Syrian ally Hamas, a sworn foe of the Jewish state, cast doubt on the Israeli government’s ability to even deliver on a peace agreement because of the weakness of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The remarks underline the difficulties facing the negotiations between Israel and Syria, restarted on Wednesday after an eight year hiatus. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had said on Thursday that Syria would have to stop supporting Hamas and Hezbollah and cut ties with Iran if any agreement were to happen.
Saturday’s editorial in Tishrin, which reflects official policy, said that Israel could not lay down conditions ahead of negotiations.
“Damascus does not want preconditions, that would put the cart before the horse ... It does not bargain over its relations with other countries and people,” the editorial stated.
“It goes without saying that impossible conditions cannot facilitate the work of negotiators,” said the editorial, which likened it to “putting stakes in the wheels” of the peace process.
As if to underline Israel’s concerns, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was in Tehran on Saturday, meeting with Iranian officials. While he was careful not to criticize the decision of Syria to restart negotiations, he cast doubt on their chances for success.
“[Israel] is maneuvering and playing with all the [negotiating] tracks — it’s a well known game and besides, Olmert’s weakness will not allow him to take this step,” Mashaal said.
An investigation into Olmert over corruption allegations have raised doubts about his ability to conclude a peace deal with the Palestinians by a year-end target or pursue recently confirmed peace talks with Syria.
Tzachi Hanegbi, a member of Olmert’s Kadima Party and chairman of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense committee in parliament, called on Saturday for an early election in Israel to vote on any peace deal negotiated between Syria and Israel.
Hanegbi said in an interview via telephone that his party did not run on a platform of peace with Syria and said elections would show whether Israelis really wanted a deal or not.
Hanegbi also underlined the absolute necessity of Syria cutting ties with militant groups and Iran.
“It’s understood that Syria wants to have the Golan Heights and Israel wants a total [Syrian] disassociation from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. It’s a red line, to ensure our security ... and to prevent a surprise attack,” he said.
Israel captured the plateau in the 1967 Middle East war and many Israelis see it as a valuable buffer against attack. Today, the Golan Heights are home to 18,000 Israelis who run thriving wine and tourism industries. Olmert himself vacationed there last month.
A recent poll showed that only 19 percent of Israelis were willing to cede the entire Golan Heights.
Israel and Syria are bitter enemies whose attempts at reaching peace have failed in the past. The last round of talks collapsed in 2000 because of a disagreement over a narrow strip of land along the Sea of Galilee that Israel wanted to keep to preserve its water rights.
The nations have fought three wars, their forces have clashed in Lebanon and more recently, Syria has given support to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS