EU Seeks Syrian Help On Ceasefire
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - A European Union envoy and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos visited Damascus Thursday in an effort to enlist Syrian support for a ceasefire along the Israel-Lebanon border. Moratinos later told reporters that he managed to secure Syrian President Bashar Assad's backing for a seven-point truce deal proposed by Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, as well as a promise to use Syria's influence with Hezbollah to press the terror group to sign on to the agreement. A pledge by Damascus to support and work with Siniora would mark a significant shift in attitudes after relations between the two nations were severely strained in the aftermath of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination last year. Lebanon and its Western allies accused Syrian intelligence of carrying out the hit. Siniora's plan for ending the current round of fighting calls for an immediate ceasefire, followed by an exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hezbollah, and only then an internal Lebanese debate on the terror group's disarmament. Siniora also wants Israel to enter into negotiations for the surrender of the Shebaa Farms region of the Golan Heights. Hezbollah has used Israel's retention of the small piece of land as justification for its continued aggression against the Jewish state. Beirut has cited the same in its refusal to disarm Hezbollah i |
