SYRIA: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flies in to Damascus for talks with Syrian opposite number Bashar al-Assad

Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Damascus in a one day visit on Thursday (July 19), met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the Palestinian factions' leaders on developments. "In the summer usually the weather is hot. It maybe hot with some victories we are looking for," said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's President in a news conference held with his Syrian counterpart, President Bashar al-Assad. From his part, al-Assad pointed out that the issues imposed in the region are always the centre of talks between the two sides. He said: "The issues we discuss are those imposed by the conspiracies being made against the Middle East" In the statement released by the two parties following to their meetings, Syria and Iran ensured the importance of making the Middle East a region that is empty from any nuclear weapons and they called the international community to pay attention to that the nuclear weapons available in Israel, threaten the security and peace in the region. Ahmadinejad, championing Iran's nuclear programme despite U.N. sanctions, met Assad at a palace overlooking Damascus. He was also due to meet Khaled Meshaal, leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas, a Hamas official told Reuters. The secular government in Damascus has been reinforcing links with the Islamic Republic as the two countries try to counter U.S.-led efforts to isolate them. Both support the Lebanese movement Hezbollah as well as Hamas and have links to parties in Iraq, and both have been accused by the United States of sponsoring terrorism. Although Syria's isolation by the West has eased in recent months, Damascus has shown no signs of curbing its ties with Tehran as Israel and its chief ally Washington demand.

ITN Source | July 20, 2007

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