SYRIA: Spanish foreign minister Moratinos visits Damascus as he works for a cease-fire in Lebanon

Syria is ready to help put an end to the Israel-Lebanon war and is eager to take part in talks on a "comprehensive and lasting peace" for the region, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Thursday (August 3). Asked if Syria was willing to use its influence with Hizbollah to stop the fighting, the former Middle East envoy said Damascus "will play a positive role", without saying how. He was speaking after talks with President Bashar al-Assad. "We cannot forget that there are still negotiations (needed) between Israel and Lebanon and between Israel and Syria and at the end of this process we have to have a comprehensive and lasting peace," Moratinos said, adding that any settlement would have to include the plight of the Palestinians. "We came to the conclusion that there is no military solution to any conflict or crisis in the Middle East and we have to call for immediate ceasefire and a political package," Moratinos said. Moratinos later left for Spain after a two-day trip to the region. He met the Lebanese cabinet, including two ministers from Hizbollah, in Beirut on Wednesday. Spain and other European governments have started to reach out to Syria, a main backer of Hizbollah, by engaging Damascus to find a solution to the Lebanon war, after largely boycotting the Syrian government since last year's assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Syria says it is willing to "facilitate communications" with Hizbollah and wants an immediate ceasefire followed by talks that address Hizbollah's demand for a prisoner exchange and eventually what Damascus views as the root of the instability -- Israel's occupation of Arab land. This includes Syria's Golan Heights, a 1,750 sq-km (670 sq mile) mountainous plateau overlooking Damascus that Israel occupied during the 1967 Middle East War.

ITN Source | August 3, 2006

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