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Blair Tackles Arab Issues in Historic Visits to Saudi Arabia and Syria
RIYADH, Oct 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday renewed his call for a viable Palestinian state during a speech in Riyadh, after earlier differences in Damascus with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on the definition of terrorism, news agencies reported.
In Riyadh, Blair's historic speech to Saudi Arabia's shura, or advisory council, marked the first such address ever by a foreign head of government.
As he praised Saudi assistance in the anti-terror campaign, he acknowledged the kingdom's "unique sensitivities" as the birthplace of Islam.
He stressed that the war in Afghanistan was not against Islam but part of a fight against terrorists.
"This is a struggle between the forces of order and those of anarchy, and the latter cannot be allowed to prevail," he told a closed session of the 120-member council, which advises the government but can not legislate.
"Terrorism puts at risk the lives and economic well-being of people in countries all over the world," said the prime minister, who had earlier met with the ailing King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom's de facto ruler.
The monarchy has made it clear to strategic ally Washington that while Riyadh strongly condemned the September 11 terror strikes in the United States and has backed the war on terror, it will not allow its air bases to be used for the bombing of Afghanistan and the ruling Taliban regime.
Turning to the Middle East, Blair, who was to travel on to Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, stressed the urgent need to help the Palestinians and Israelis.
"We must keep our eyes on the longer term goal - a viable Palestinian state, implementation of U.N. resolutions and past agreements and a just settlement which ensures peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis," he said, according to the text of his speech provided by the British embassy.
Earlier Wednesday in Syria, however, Blair and Assad differed sharply on the meaning of terrorism and on the war in Afghanistan, during the British prime minister's historic visit to Damascus.
While Assad said "there were several points of agreement" on the questions of terrorism and the Middle East peace process, he was inflexible over Syria's support for groups fighting against Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
For his part, Blair let it be understood that while a bridgehead of dialogue had been built to Syria and could now be maintained, his talks with Assad had been "candid," often a diplomatic codeword for a sharp disagreement.
Assad told a joint press conference that Syria saw things "with both eyes," adding that while there was international terrorism, there was also "Israeli terrorism" against the Palestinians.
He also implicitly criticized Washington's leading role and strategy in the "war on terrorism" it declared in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States and has blamed on Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.
"The war against terror necessitates international action," Assad said, while repeating Syria's condemnation of last month's attacks. "It is not up to one party to lead this action."
Referring to the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan, whose Taliban regime is harboring bin Laden, Assad said "we cannot accept the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians every day."
Some Arab leaders have attributed the September 11 attacks to the West's failure to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict. While condemning those attacks unequivocally, they have not endorsed the U.S. and British counter-strikes on Afghanistan.
"On the question of terrorism, we have made distinctions between terrorism and resistance, and insisted on the distinction between Islam and terrorism," Assad said.
"The war against terrorism must be settled first by a group definition of this phenomenon, by international cooperation, by solving the problem at its roots," he said.
British officials had hoped that Assad would be more flexible on the question of backing for Palestinian resistance groups and the Lebanese Hezbollah in his talks with Blair, the first British prime minister to visit Syria.
But the Syrian leader stood firm, comparing the fight against Israeli occupation with the French resistance to the Germans during World War II under General Charles de Gaulle.
"We support resistance fighters who seek to liberate their lands," he said. "Active resistance is very different from active terrorism."
"We cannot separate terrorism in the world from the terrorism that Israel practices against the Palestinians," he added.
A Downing Street spokesman traveling with Blair later stressed that there had been no expectation of convincing Assad to withdraw his support for the groups.
Assad "cannot walk away from these [Palestinian] groups any more than Gerry Adams [the leader of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army] can walk away from the IRA."
The spokesman stressed that "dialogue has begun. Do not underestimate how difficult it has been for Syria to say that it strongly condemns [the events of] September 11."
Blair, for his part, said the U.S.-led forces were doing their best to minimize civilian casualties in the attacks on Afghanistan.
He said the international community must throw all its weight into the fight against terrorism. The priority was to end terrorism and establish peace in the Middle East.
"I believe it's important that we send a very clear message that there is a very strong international coalition against terrorism and that Syria and the countries of the region are united with that," the British prime minister said.
Blair also repeated his backing for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but said Syria and other major regional powers should use their influence to restrain radical Palestinian groups and work to ensure a period of calm.
"The only possible long-term solution is Israelis and Palestinians living side by side," he said. "Whatever the differences are, the only way of restarting the peace process is by going back to the negotiating table.
"Violence is deeply unhelpful, and what we require is time and space to get people back talking together."
Blair also called for Syria and Israel to resume their peace talks, which broke down last year over the restitution of the Israeli-held Golan Heights.
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