Nicosia, 19/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union's Special Representative for the Middle East, Miguel Angel Moratinos said from Nicosia, according to AFP, that he intended going to Syria at the end of February of the beginning of March to meet President Assad. Mr. Moratinos, who met Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem on Thursday, announced that he would hand a message to the Syrian President from Israel's Prime Minister elect, who had told him that he was prepared to open negotiations with Syria without preconditions., but that he was waiting for Damascus to show greater firmness towards Hetzbollah, by representing it to conduct operations in Israel.
On Monday, Syria rejected Sharon's appeal. Thus, Radio Damascus said, in a commentary, that this was "an enormous sham, as Sharon "wants to engage in negotiations on the land that, for Syria, cannot be the subject of a compromise". Such negotiations would mean that Syria renounced "its immutable right to recuperate the Golan Heights up to the line of 4 June 1967", before the Israeli-Arab war, whereas "the return of Golan and other Arab territories is a right recognised by the UN", the Syrian commentator said.