Syria slams Israel's commitment to peace

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad accused Israel on Sunday of "instinctively" seeking aggression and cast doubt on the Jewish state's willingness to make peace with Syria at a meeting of Arab lawmakers in Damascus.

"Israel's refusal to meet the minimum legitimate demands of the Palestinians and the requirements for peace on the Syrian tack shows that peace for it is a tactical thing, not a strategic choice," Assad told the gathering.

"Israel has never ruled out aggression because the Israelis have an instinctive fear of peace, especially with the shameless rise of their religious and racial extremism," he added.

Indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel were suspended about two months ago after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned over a corruption scandal.

The talks started months after Israeli planes bombed a military complex in eastern Syria. The United States, Israel's chief ally, said the target was an illegal nuclear reactor under construction. Syria denied the charge and Israel kept quiet.

Olmert, who is still caretaker prime minister, has said he wants to renew the Turkish-mediated talks. Syria has shown no objection and Assad did not address the issue directly.

Arab resistance

The Jewish state now wants Syria to weaken its alliance with Iran and cut support for the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamist groups to make progress toward a deal. Syria has said Israel has no right to set such conditions.

In a combative speech, Assad stuck to his father's position that there would be no deal unless Israel agrees to hand back the whole Golan territory to Syria, and defended Syria's right to champion what he described as the cause of Arab resistance.

"Israel will never obtain a sell out from Syria. Peace was never the main objective for the Israelis. Their obsession is a narrowly defined security," Assad said.

"Only resistance guarantees peace. We (Syria) have had to always prove that retreat is not an Arab destiny," he added.

Syria was the only Arab country that directly supported Hezbollah in the 2006 war with Israel, when Israeli forces invaded south Lebanon after Hezbollah captured Israeli soldiers in a cross border raid.

The Damascus government also hosts exiled leaders of the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad factions, who oppose the approach of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to peace with Israel and do not recognize the Jewish state's right to exist.

In the meantime, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called on the U.S. to pull out its troops out of Iraq, saying they posed a threat to neighboring states.

"The presence in Iraq of American forces of occupation is a permanent threat to neighboring countries and an element of instability in the region," Assad told Arab parliamentarians in Damascus.

Only resistance guarantees peace. We (Syria) have had to always prove that retreat is not an Arab destiny,

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Slams US accord

Assad also slammed a security accord being negotiated between Washington and Baghdad, saying it was "aimed at making Iraq a base for attacks on neighboring nations."

Last month, Syria said American troops attacked a village near its border with Iraq, killing eight civilians. A U.S. official in Washington later said the raid had targeted militants smugglings arms and fighters into Iraq.

Assad labeled the raid "U.S. aggression against Syrian territory."

Assad urged Arab countries to "adopt a clear and united position that the American occupation of Iraq must end and oppose any attempt to impose agreements undermining that country's sovereignty and security."

Relations between Damascus and Washington have sunk to their lowest level since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which Syria strongly opposed.

Syrian leaders regularly call for "U.S. occupation forces" to withdraw from Iraq, while Washington accuses Damascus of allowing insurgents to enter the war-torn country through its territory.