Dec. 8, 2007 (LPAC)--Syria's Ambassador to Washington, Imad Mustapha, issued a positive statement on hopes for progress in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, while warning that Israel's continued occupation of Arab lands and its killing of Palestinians could wreck negotiations.

Part of the complex chain of events which led to hopeful results at the Mideast peace conference at Annapolis last month, was Lyndon LaRouche's firm support for the process, especially his ringing endorsement of Israeli President Shimon Peres' September call for Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations. [link to LaRouche:"I'm Backing Peres Personally"]

Referring to that peace summit the Ambassador told Lebanon's Daily Star that "It may go into the footnotes of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but it can be the start of something, and I am not going to be very pessimistic. Negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis are happening right now as we talk; there is always this possibility -- remote or not -- that something might happen, something positive."

He called for a comprehensive peace which includes a "changed the reality on the ground," and an end to "policies of occupation." He said that normalization of relations with Arab states could not take place "if Israel continues to occupy territories and kill our people....

"For the past 10 years," he said, "Syria has called Israel to engage in peace talks with Syria and Israel has flatly rejected the Syrian proposal. Here in the U.S., in many circles, Syria is supposed to be the rejectionist, hard-liner, spoiler, while Israel is the peace-loving country not interested in occupying territories."