Assad to Al-Manar: Syria Will Name Ambassador to Leb. Soon

[Mac Seafraidh]

26/01/2009 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that Syria was standing firm in its decision to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, revealing that Damascus will name its ambassador to Lebanon very soon. "If we had no intention to appoint a Syrian ambassador, then we wouldn't have opened an embassy in Beirut under any circumstance," he said.
 
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Al-Manar TV, Assad confirmed Syria's position from Lebanon, especially following the election of Lebanese president Michel Sleiman and the formation of the national unity cabinet.
 
The Syrian President noted that the victory achieved in Gaza, like the one achieved in Lebanon two years ago, was tantamount to a message delivered in all directions, saying that we resolve our conflicts in our hands, the cause owners are the ones who resolve problems through more steadfastness and belligerence in defending the rights.
 
Assad emphasized that the first criteria studied to determine the victory was the goals the enemy has determined for its war. "If the goal was destructing homes and ruining lands, then the enemy has won. The same goes for the goal of killing civilian people. However, if the goal was deleting the Resistance, abolishing the Resistance pattern in the region and achieving similar goals on ground by exterminating the Resistance, then the enemy was obviously defeated," Assad explained.
 
The Syrian President expressed honor and pride for the victory achieved by the Resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, noting that it has proved the validity of the choices taken by the Syrian policy. Assad reiterated that one of the strengths of the Syrian policy was its resorting to the popular public opinion in dealing with the various issues and causes either locally or externally.
 
According to Assad, the major political achievement for the Gaza war was that it has consolidated the Resistance pattern and choice in the region. He noted that the various victories achieved by the Resistance throughout the Arab-Israeli conflict played an important role towards the final victory. "The war of 1982 created the Resistance in its actual form that achieved liberation in 2000, Jenine massacres in 2002 created the Resistance status in Palestine, the war of 2006 also created something similar and the same scenario repeated itself in Gaza," Assad pointed out, adding that it was impossible to reach the final and complete victory without passing through these different victories.
 
"It was obvious that Israeli only understands the language of force," Assad declared, recalling that the Zionist entity was not serious in the peace negotiations to return rights. "The political exploitation for the Resistance victories is achieved by sticking to the legal rights in order to getting them back," he pointed out.
 
"Israel does not care of all political bodies here and there. The Security Council, United Nations, Arab League have all no concern in the Israeli mind," Assad said, noting that Israel has always adopted the policy of imposing the fait accompli on Arabs. "It's our turn to adopt this policy towards Israel. This is the only political exploitation possible," he added, noting that resorting to all international bodies was useless with this Zionist entity.
 
Asked about the reconciliation meeting between Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and other countries at the sidelines of the Arab Summit in Kuwait, Assad called to define the reconciliation. "If we mean by reconciliation that the countries' representatives sit together, then this happened before the mentioned meeting. However, if we are talking about a reconciliation in policies and stances, then this needs a long dialogue," Assad said. He noted that what happened in Kuwait was a form of breaking the ice. "The success of this reconciliation relies on the dialogue that will take place between the concerned states and on the intention of the officials who would be charged with the mission," Assad pointed out, noting at the same time that he was optimistic althought the actual dialogue hasn't started yet.
 
Assad said the mentioned meeting didn't enter into details, saying that it was only a "breaking the ice" meeting that limited itself in generalities without talking about specific causes. He denied rhumors about receiving an official invitation to visit the Saudi capital, but said that intercommunication was needed at this critical moment in order to strengthen the Arab-Arab relations.
 
Asked about the proposed Syrian-American relations with the Obama administration, Assad said that he was optimistic but noted he had no big expectations or hopes. "There are some positive signals but we learned to pay attention with the US and not to bet on such signals and indications," he said. "As long as there is nothing tangible, we suppose that noting has changed yet," he added.
 
The Syrian president said that the American-Syrian dialogue has started seriously when figures close to the new US administration visited the Syrian capital. "However, as long as there are conditions for talking with US, there won't be dialogue," he asserted, recalling that Syria has obvious and clear beliefs. "In the worst circumstances, we refused to surrender, and now we can refuse too simply and they know that," he added.
 
Concerning the international tribunal on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Assad emphasized that there was no relation between the mentioned tribunal and the Arab inter-relations. "The tribunal is international and the Syrian citizen obeys to the Syrian justice," Assad noted. "If there was a will of cooperation between the Syrian justice and the international tribunal, then there should be an agreement treaty on the rights and duties," he pointed out.  

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