Israel planning war: Assad

BERLIN, JULY 7. The Syrian President, Mr. Bashar al-Assad, said in an interview released today that the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, was planning a war in West Asia. ``Today he is planning an even more extensive war because he cannot cope with a crisis in Israel,'' Mr. Assad told the German Weekly Magazine, Der Spiegel. ``He came into office promising to smash the Palestinians within a hundred days.

``When that fell apart, Mr. Sharon began to export the problem over Israel's borders.'' An Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire appeared to exist in name only as West Bank and Gaza violence continued. ``Mr. Sharon and his Government aspire to war. They want to push the whole region into conflict,'' Mr. Assad said.

He gave the interview ahead of a trip to Berlin to meet the German Chancellor, Mr. Gerhard Schroeder, that starts on Tuesday. During a visit to Paris last month, Mr. Assad made a similar accusation. In London on Thursday, the Syrian Foreign Minister, Mr. Farouq al-Shara, also accused Israel of steering the region towards war and declared that Syria was prepared to defend itself if pushed.

When asked if an Arab oil embargo - an action used in 1973 - was a possible option in the West Asian struggle, Mr. Assad replied: ``In the search for peace, everything is imaginable. That is true for the Arab side as well.'' Mr. Assad, said the peace process of the past decade had ignored U.N. Security Council resolutions and the basic principles of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference. He added that a repeat of the Madrid Conference did not make sense at present. ``At no time have Arab States refused the peace process, but rather have done all possible to make it a success. It is up to Israel, which has from the very beginning put a spike in the wheels,'' Mr. Assad said.

Mr. Sharon, returning home on Friday from a short trip to Europe to shore up support, acknowledged disagreement with the European leaders over Israel's strong-arm policies against the Palestinians.

A U.S.-mediated meeting between Israeli and Palestinian security officials in Tel Aviv ended without agreement yesterday on the start of a seven-day truce intended to precede a cooling-off period and resumption of negotiations.

- Reuters

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Section  : International
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