Mideast situation/Lebanon – Note verbale from Syria

Note verbale dated 7 March 2005 from the Permanent Mission

of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations addressed to

the Secretary-General 

  The Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations presents its compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and has the honour to transmit herewith a reply to the Israeli allegations contained in document A/59/717-S/2005/130, dated 28 February 2005 (see annex).

  It would be greatly appreciated if the present letter and its annex could be circulated as a document of the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly, under agenda items 36 and 148, and of the Security Council.

Annex to the note verbale dated 7 March 2005 from the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General 

[Original: Arabic]

Letter from the Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations dated 7 March 2005, addressed to the Secretary-General

  In reference to document A/59/717-S/2005/130, dated 28 February 2005, and further to our earlier letter issued as document A/59/677-S/2005/39, dated 19 January 2005, I should like to draw your attention to Israel’s pursuit of its heated campaign of deception and falsifications of various kinds aimed at the Syrian Arab Republic. This new campaign exposes the Israeli Government’s policy of levelling false accusations in every direction that serves its purposes and serves the policy of State terrorism which it follows, without basing itself on any facts, data or evidence other than what its security and media mechanisms fabricate in the service of its aims and policies.

  As pointed out in our previous letter and as confirmed in particular by the past few days, Israeli officials do not hesitate to point a tendentious accusing finger at the Syrian Arab Republic within minutes after any event occurs, including the recent events. This gives us the impression that Israel itself is acting as though it were part of the planning and execution, as for example in the case of the Tel Aviv incident and other incidents.

  As to the explosion that took place at a Tel Aviv nightclub, the competent Syrian authorities have denied any connection of Syria with the incident. What is more, Syria condemned that incident and emphasized that those who had carried it out, at this particular juncture, could only be serving Israel’s purposes in so doing. Syria has stated that it supports the steps taken by the Palestinian leadership to unite the efforts of all groups with a view to resuming the peace process and putting an end to the blind Israeli killing of Palestinians; the unfettered destruction of their cities, villages and infrastructures; the stealing of their land; and the building of the apartheid wall.

  Israel, intent on pursuing its policy of turning the facts upside down, mentioned in its most recent letter that the Islamic Jihad had announced that it took responsibility for the Tel Aviv operation from Damascus, yet the Islamic Jihad has not, as far as we know, made such a statement. The Syrian Government, moreover, has no knowledge of this whatsoever.

  What is more, in order to shed full light on the matter, the Syrian Arab Republic emphasizes that the offices of the organization mentioned in the Israeli letter and the offices of other Palestinian organizations have been closed for a long time and do not engage in any activities in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic.

  The Syrian Arab Republic and the Arab region in general suffer the dire effects of the terrorism for which Israel is responsible, the features of which have become clear from murders, assassinations and devastation in numerous Arab and world capitals and other cities. Moreover Syria, unlike Israel, abides by all its commitments under international law. In this connection, the Syrian Government has begun to take the necessary steps towards accession to the remaining counter-terrorism conventions. The States members of the United Nations in general, and of the Security Council in particular, are aware of Syria’s important contributions in enriching and supporting the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee in accordance with the provisions of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001).

  Israel cannot go on forever concealing its true intentions to thwart a just and lasting peace in the Middle East when it is itself the principal cause of the tense state of affairs in the region and of the possibility of its blowing up. It is Israel that is responsible for the failure of the peace talks that began more than 10 years ago, because of its desire to take advantage of the gains of peace and perpetuate its occupation of Arab territory in the Syrian Golan, Palestine and south Lebanon. On numerous occasions Syria has stated its willingness to resuming the peace talks, but its invitations have been consistently met with an unjustifiable Israeli rejection. Syria has repeatedly stated that the requirements for achieving peace have become known and have met with the agreement of the international community, i.e., Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, the terms of reference of the Madrid Peace Conference, the Arab peace initiative adopted at the Beirut Summit in 2002 and the principal of land for peace. The question that is still before us is: will Israel continue to pursue a policy of falsification, deception and escalation of the already tense situation in the region or will it defer to the will of the international community regarding the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the region?

Fayssal Mekdad 

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

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