Assad: Don't wait for a Democrat

Patrick Kennedy's loyalty to Israel is appreciated, but the big issue between the US and Syria is not Israel. The issues are Lebanon and Iraq.

 

 Last update - 14:12 27/12/2007       
U.S. Congressman: Syria wrong if it thinks Democrat would give if better deal
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/939028.html

 

Syria is "mistaken" if it believes it should wait until Republican U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office to get a better deal if a Democrat is elected, U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy said on Wednesday.

 

On a joint visit to Israel with Republican Senator Arlen Specter, the Democrat from Rhode Island said a consensus existed in the U.S. over support for Israel.

 

Specter is due to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday.
 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent Assad a message Tuesday, saying Israel is still awaiting an answer from Damascus on the possibility of reviving peace talks.

 

Olmert met with United States Senator Arlen Specter and gave him the message, which will be delivered to Assad when Specter meets with the Syrian president on Thursday.

 

After meeting with Olmert in Jerusalem, Specter told reporters that talks with Syria were stalled. "It is the proverbial story of chicken and egg, what comes first?" Specter said.

 

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday delivered a message to Defense Minister Ehud Barak from Assad, according to the Agence France-Presse. Mubarak and Barak met Wednesday in the Sinai resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh.

 

The Defense Ministry has refused to respond to the AFP's report.
 

Source of Israel News item