We Do Not Yield to International Tribunal and Are Ready for Border Demarcation
Syrian President Bashar Assad reiterated that his country does not yield to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and stressed readiness to demarcate the border with Lebanon.
"We have previously announced that any relationship between the court and the state of Syria should comply with an agreement with Syria," Assad told the Qatari al-Sharq newspaper.
The tribunal will try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri”s suspected assassins. Many have accused Syria of involvement in the Feb. 2005 murder but Damascus has denied the charges.
Turning to the Shebaa Farms area, Assad said: "We agree on ownership of territories and demarcate the border and then tell the U.N. what we have agreed on."
"We told the Lebanese and the U.N. that Israel should withdraw first," he said in the interview published Thursday. "Why aren”t they (the Lebanese) worried about their northern border and are only worried about the Shebaa Farms?"
"We are ready to start demarcation and we will start with all territories and the other borders that require demarcation," Assad stressed.
The Syrian president said Damascus and Hizbullah have the same cause in terms of Israel.
"The party has a cause with the Israeli enemy. And we have the same cause. That”s why we support it. At the same time it is a national party that has a religious agenda as part of its nation Lebanon … It is normal that we have a good relationship with it," Assad told his interviewer.