DAMASCUS, 17 November 2003 — Syrian President Bashar Assad said yesterday that Damascus wanted to help Iraq establish a “national government”, following a meeting with more than 160 Iraqi tribal representatives, state media reported.
“Syria wants to make every effort to diminish the sufferings of the Iraqi people and help strengthen their unity in order to establish a national government representing all groups,” Assad was quoted as saying by the official SANA news agency.
“Syria wants to help the Iraqi people bring stability and security to the country and recover their sovereignty,” Assad added the day after Baghdad announced that elections will be held in Iraq before end-2005.
The tribal delegation used the meeting to inform the Syrian president of the “sufferings endured by the Iraqi people under occupation,” SANA reported.
The visitors, who arrived in Syria on Friday, were received by Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam on Saturday.
Afterward, Khaddam denied US allegations that members of the Al-Qaeda network were present in his country.
“The Americans know that Al-Qaeda is not present in Syria and that, on the contrary, Syria is looking for members,” of the network, Khaddam told reporters. Washington has warned Damascus to stay out of affairs in neighboring Iraq following the ouster of former president Saddam Hussein in April.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said here yesterday that steps announced by Washington to ensure a devolution of powers to the Iraqis must be followed by other moves.
“Egypt welcomes each step which brings the Iraqi people closer to total sovereignty and which brings a withdrawal of occupation forces nearer,” Maher told reporters.
“The steps announced yesterday are a step which must be followed by other steps... toward achieving the hopes of the Iraqi people,” he added. The US-led coalition on Saturday outlined steps to speed up the transfer of political power in Iraq but did not provide a timetable for a troop withdrawal.
It said a new provisional government would be formed by June next year, named by a transitional assembly to be elected by the end of May, while elections will be held in Iraq before the end of 2005.
“We hope it’s a development announcing the acceleration (of the process) leading to Iraq’s sovereignty and the formation of a government representing the Iraqi people, which alone would take charge of Iraqi affairs,” Maher said. “It’s by this standard that Egypt will judge any step” undertaken by the US-led coalition in Iraq, he added.
