Syria hasn't received US invitation for Mideast peace conference:FM
8/10/2007 16:19
Syria has not received US invitation for the planned Middle East peace
conference to be held in the United States in November, said Foreign Minister
Walid al-Moallem yesterday.
An invitation from the US government will be a
prerequisite for Syria to attend the conference, and Syria will also check the
agenda of the conference to decide whether to take part, said Moallem at a joint
press conference with visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.
Syrian
President Bashar Assad said earlier this month Syria will not attend the
conference if it does not address Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights,
which it captured from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war.
The United
States said recently it would invite Syria to attend the Middle East
conference.
Ali Babacan said at the press conference that Syria plays a
significant role in the Middle East region, and is also a country directly
involved in the Arab-Israel conflict.
US President George W. Bush proposed in
July to hold the international conference, which would bring together Israel,
the Palestinians, the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, which includes the
European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, and some Arab
states to help resume the stalled Middle East peace talks.
Xinhua
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