Syria: Obama Should Focus on Mideast's 'Real Problem'
U.S. President Barack Obama should use his second term to concentrate on "the real problem in the region," the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad said on Wednesday.
"We hope during the second term of President Obama, he pays more attention to the real problem in the Middle East, which also affects the people of the United States, namely the Palestinian issue, which must be resolved on the basis of international legitimacy," he said in an interview with AFP.
He also expressed hope that the president would cooperate with Damascus, saying that "all of us want to work for a just settlement of the Middle East's problems and the Israeli withdrawal from Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian land".
Asked if he thought that U.S. policy towards the Syrian crisis would evolve, Muqdad said: "I cannot speak for the Americans."
Instead, he said Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador who left Damascus in October 2011, had "lead the discussion" among opposition groups in Doha.
"It was his plan; this is an American plan," said Muqdad.
"What we shall see in the future is more problems rather than solutions."
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/60743 |