Syria Today | Carter says US-Syrian relations will improve

Carter says US-Syrian relations will improve

Former US President Jimmy Carter said he expects US-Syrian relations to improve under the presidency of Barack Obama during a trip to Damascus on December 13.

During the two-day trip, Carter met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. Carter’s visit to Damascus was his second in eight months and part of a wider regional tour to mark the 30th anniversary of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt brokered by him at Camp David.

Talks between Assad and Carter focussed on the Syrian-Israeli indirect peace negotiations, Palestinian reconciliation and US-Syrian relations.

Speaking at a press conference on November 13 after meeting with Assad, Carter said he expects Obama to dispatch a US ambassador to Damascus early on in his presidency. The post has been vacant since Washington withdrew its ambassador in 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“I don’t have any doubt that the situation will improve between the US and Syria after we have a new president,” Carter said.

Carter also described the Syrian-Israeli indirect peace talks, underway since May 2007, as a “good beginning”, calling for US involvement in the process. He pushed for the two sides to start direct talks and said any peace treaty must see the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights returned to Syria.

“Peace will not be achieved in the region without the full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and the rest of the occupied Arab territories,” Carter said.

Carter also called for the American school and the American Language Centre in Damascus to be reopened. Syrian authorities closed the schools following a US helicopter raid into Syrian territory at Abu Kamal on October 26.

Meeting with Mashaal on December 14, Carter discussed the broken ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the ensuing Israeli blockade. The two sides also discussed the fate of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held hostage in Gaza by Hamas for more than two years.

Carter’s last meeting with Mashaal in April 2008 resulted in Hamas allowing Shalit to exchange letters with his parents. That meeting was heavily condemned by the Bush administration which labels Hamas a terrorist organisation. During his most recent trip to Damascus, Carter said he will continue to meet with Hamas leaders because “peace requires dialogue”.

Carter’s visit to Damascus followed a five-day tour of Lebanon where he met with political leaders to raise the idea of sending observers from his foundation, The Carter Center, to monitor the Lebanese parliamentary elections scheduled for spring 2009.