DAMASCUS, 26/01/08 - Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen is disgruntled about the presence of Syrian ministers at a meeting of pro-Palestine militant organisations including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad. He feels he has been misinformed. Syrian President Bashar Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem had said to Verhagen that no authorities would participate in the meeting. "That is not true. This is in sharp contradiction to what Assad and Muallem had assured me," complained Verhagen at the end of his four-day visit to the Middle East.
According to Muallem, Syrian ministers were only present at the opening ceremony and that is not the same as actively participating. Verhagen however said he had "addressed" Assad and Muallem about the participation in the "reprehensible anti-Israeli conference."
Verhagen said he also addressed the Syrian President during a meeting of over one hour about the need to combat weapons smuggling to Lebanon and about compliance with human rights. In this connection, he expressed his great concern about the increasing arrests of human rights activists in recent months.
Assad however said he had not received the idea that the Dutch minister wanted to "interfere in Syrian domestic affairs" such as human rights. There was just an exchange of ideas, he told journalists.
The meeting with Assad, like the rest of Verhagen's working visit, was mainly connected with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process re-started in Annapolis last year. According to Verhagen, Syria is indispensable here and must opt for a constructive contribution to this process.
Netherlands Info Services
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