Syrian FM calls for int'l efforts to revive Mideast peace process

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Muallem on Monday called for more communication with active international parties in efforts to revive the Mideast peace process, the official SANA news agency reported.

Muallem made the call in meeting with his visiting Portuguese counterpart Luis Filipe Marques Amado, whose country would take the rotating EU presidency next month.

Israel should seize the available opportunity and show the political will for achieving peace in the region through stopping its illegitimate acts and ending its occupation of the Arab territories in accordance with relevant UN resolutions, Muallem was quoted as saying.

He also touched upon the Arab Peace Initiative approved by the 2002 Beirut Arab summit and relaunched by the Riyadh summit late in March, which calls for Israel's pullout from Arab land occupied in the 1967 Middle East War and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in return for the normalization of ties with Arab states.

Meanwhile, Muallem stressed the necessity for the Iraqi government to take a series of steps to pose bases for a national reconciliation and pave the way for expanding the political process in that war-torn country.

On Lebanon, Muallem asserted Syria's keenness on the fraternal ties with the neighbor and the need to achieve reconciliation among all Lebanese to solve the issues away from the foreign interference.

For his part, Amado said Portugal would shoulder its responsibilities during its tenure of the EU presidency to play an active role in achieving security and stability in the Middle East region.

Source: Xinhua