DAMASCUS, 16 July 2004 — An envoy of the European Union, Annalisa Gianella, held talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara yesterday to explain the bloc’s policy on weapons of mass destruction which has proved a major needle in relations. “The purpose of my visit is to explain to our friends, the Syrians, the security strategy and the strategy against proliferation of WMD which were adopted by EU countries last December,” she said after her talks with Shara.

Syria and the EU had planned to sign an association agreement early this year but talks have stumbled over the WMD issue. “To be able to discuss together the security strategy allows us to better understand each other. I hope that it can be effective and fruitful in the perspective of the conclusion of the association agreement,” Gianella added.

Shara recalled Syria’s position on the subject to Gianella, who is adviser to the EU’s top foreign policy representative Javier Solana. The official Syrian news agency quoted Shara as saying “all parties without exception (including Israel) must cooperate to make the Middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction.”

Earlier this month, Franz Hesske, the EU representative in Damascus, said: “The EU is very concerned about (the weapons issue). But Syria is not singled out. It’s part of our policy to bring this issue of WMD under control.”

Syria, meanwhile, slammed Britain for its use of misleading intelligence to justify its alliance with the United States war last year on Iraq. State-run Damascus Radio, which reflects the government thinking, yesterday said in a commentary that the report written by the investigative committee led by Britain’s Lord Butler of Brockwell was the latest evidence against US-British pretext to wage war on Iraq.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged Butler’s conclusion that Iraq did not have significant if any stocks of chemical or biological weapons nor developed plans for using them.

Damascus Radio said “British and US attempts to hold their intelligence services responsible will not exempt (their governments) from their responsibility” for the war. The commentary called for heightened respect for the United Nations (which had not authorized the US war on Iraq) and UN principles.

Syria staunchly opposed the US-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein, maintaining that the war would have dangerous repercussions.