April 03, 2009 - Daily Star - Assad insists that Tribunal comply with Syria-UN agreement

BEIRUT: Syrian President Bashar Assad said in comments published Thursday that his country would not submit to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, but stressed readiness to demarcate the border with the neighboring country.
"We have previously announced that any relationship between the court and the state of Syria should comply with an agreement with Syria," Assad told Qatar's Ash-Sharq daily.
The tribunal will try former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins.
Lebanese anti-Syrian politicians have accused Syria of orchestrating the assassination of Hariri and several other anti-Damascus figures. Syria has always denied the accusations.
Speaking about the occupied Shebaa Farms area, Assad said: "Lebanon and Syria should agree on ownership of territories and demarcate the border and then tell the United Nations what we have agreed on."
"We told the Lebanese and the UN 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 were united in the fight against Israel.
"Hizbullah and Syria fight for the same cause, that's why we have good relations," Assad told the Qatari newspaper.
Syria dominated politics in Lebanon until the Hariri assassination, which led to intense and successful pressure on Damascus to withdraw its troops from the country. Damascus still has powerful allies in Lebanon, including Hizbullah.
On March 24, Syria appointed its first ambassador to Beirut, career diplomat Ali Abdel-Karim Ali.
Lebanon had opened its first embassy in Damascus a week earlier and named Michel Khoury as ambassador. Syria opened its Beirut embassy last year, but without appointing an ambassador.
The United States and France had led pressure on Syria to establish formal ties with Lebanon. Lebanon has also been at the heart of a crisis in Syrian-Saudi relations, which recently began to thaw.
On Tuesday, Syria's deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday that Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was welcome to visit Damascus. "Syria's doors are open to [Prime Minister Fouad] Siniora," Faysal Mikdad told NBN television in an interview. He said Syria has sent Siniora multiple invitations, "which remained unanswered."
However, an official from the office of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denied on Wednesday that the premier received an invitation to visit Syria. "Prime Minister Siniora did not receive any invitation from Syria, as stated by Faisal al-Miqdad," the source told An-Nahar daily in remarks published Wednesday.
In his interview, Mikdad said the recent Saudi-Syrian reconciliation was likely to reflect positively on all Arab states, including Lebanon.
"Arab reconciliation will have positive repercussions on the Lebanese scene provided that all Arab states keep away from meddling in Lebanon's domestic issues," he added.
Mikdad also said he hoped Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections would take place in a "calm atmosphere."
In comments on Monday, Siniora told reporters that bilateral ties were "very significant," but added Syria must regard Lebanon as an "independent" state."