DAMASCUS: Syria’s president faulted the Obama administration Thursday for failing to follow up its stated goal of Mideast peace with action and said time was running out.
President Bashar Assad’s critique comes despite US efforts to improve relations with Syria that were strained throughout much of the Bush administration.
“Until now, we have only heard headlines, but there have been no discussions with the concerned parties, including Syria,” Assad told reporters at a press conference in Damascus. “But what is the process that will take you from the headline to the goal?”
Assad, who met Thursday with Finnish President Tarja Halonen, urged Europe to take a more active role in peacemaking.
The US has urged both the Israelis and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, but the process has been hampered by Israel’s refusal to suspend settlement construction in areas the Palestinians want for a future state. It has also been complicated by a rift among the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah.
The Syrians want a strong American hand in Mideast peacemaking to regain territory they lost to Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.
President Barack Obama has tried to improve relations with Syria since taking office, pledging to send an ambassador back to the country for the first time in more than four years. Syria’s deputy foreign minister visited Washington in September, the first such visit in about five years.
The US hopes to pull Syria away from its alliance with Iran and curtail its support for militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas that Washington deems terrorist organizations and sees as obstacles to Mideast peace.
