Syria sends Annapolis conference message to Tehran (2nd Roundup)

Dec 2, 2007, 19:58 GMT

Tehran - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday delivered through an envoy a special message to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on why Syria attended the past week's Middle East peace conference in Annapolis.

State news agency IRNA reported that visiting Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad, who came to Tehran to justify Syria's attendance in Annapolis, delivered to Ahmadinejad the message, contents of which were not disclosed by IRNA.

Terming Assad as 'an important personality in the Islamic and Arabic world,' the Iranian president said 'the enemies could not harm traditional ties between Iran and Syria.'

'It was natural that the Annapolis conference could bear no positive and clear results but we should all be careful that (US President George W.) Bush would further deprive Palestinians of their rights in the last year of his presidential term,' Ahmadinejad told the Syrian envoy.

Mekdad had arrived in Tehran earlier Sunday and already held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, IRNA reported.

IRNA quoted Mekdad as saying that Syria would not allow anyone to undermine Tehran-Damascus relations.

Mottaki said in the same meeting that resistance of Islamic and Arabic states 'would be the only option to confront the injustice caused by Israel and its Western supporters.'

He added that the Annapolis conference was 'just a gesture by the US and Israel - fact is, however, that they continue killing oppressed Palestinians.'

Ahmadinejad and his government were angry with several Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, for having ignored Tehran's call to boycott the Annapolis conference which the Iranian president had branded as a 'venue of another Zionist plot against Palestine.'

Tehran denounced the US-hosted conference as 'unimportant and just US propaganda for Zionists (Israel)' and called its final declaration a 'piece of useless torn paper.'