03/02/2010 Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Wednesday that Israel is not serious about its intentions to make peace with Damascus as evidenced by "its conduct which is leading the region to war."

The Syrian leader made those statements during a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos in Damascus on Wednesday.

According to a report on Syrian state television, Moratinos told Assad that the urgent diplomatic issues of the Middle East will be at the top of the European Union's agenda. Spain assumed the rotating presidency of the EU.

Earlier on Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem warned Israel on Wednesday about launching any war against his country, saying it would turn into a wider conflict. "Israelis, do not test the power of Syria since you know the war will move into your cities," Mouallem told journalists in the Syrian capital Damascus.

"Return to reason, follow the path of peace ... and implement the requirements of peace fairly and comprehensively," he told a media conference with visiting Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Mouallem had been questioned about comments made on Monday by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

"In the absence of a peace agreement with Syria, we might find ourselves in a forceful conflict that could lead to an all-out war," Barak's office quoted him as saying in a speech to senior officers on Monday.

The Syrian minister said such statements "heightened the risk of war in the region." "If such a war comes ... it will be widespread even if it is waged against (just) southern Lebanon or Syria," Mouallem warned, while excluding the chance of "peace negotiations being launched after such a war."

Moratinos, who visited the Zionist entity and the Palestinian territories on Monday and Tuesday, said he "had not heard the war drums beat" in the Jewish state.

"Instead, I heard about peace," he said, stressing that the European Union would keep up its efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a meeting with Moratinos that "Israel was not serious in achieving peace and that everything showed it was working towards a war," according the state news agency SANA.

Syria and Israel held indirect talks mediated by Turkey in 2008 over the occupied Golan Heights, which was seized and later annexed by the Zionist entity after the 1967 Middle East war.

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06/02/2010 Syria believes that the recent threats directed by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman against the regime in Damascus reflects the Israeli government's intention to wage new wars in the Middle East, an editorial published by the official Tishreen newspaper on Saturday.

According to the Syrian regime's mouthpiece, "Israel thought it could wage wars and not suffer the consequences – but it was wrong. It (Israel) tested the patience of Syria and the Arab and Islamic nations – and it turned out that this patience has its limits. Israel is testing Syria's determination to return its conquered land by all the legitimate means at its disposal."

"The path to peace is open and its conditions are known, but the path of destruction can also open the moment Israel complies with the aggressive tendencies of leaders who have crime running in their veins and their way is the way of the mafia," the editorial read.

"Whichever path Israel chooses, it will find Syria prepared for either peace or war," said the newspaper.

The belligerent back-and-forth between Tel Aviv and Damascus began after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak declared that without a political arrangement, the two countries will face a confrontation that might lead to war."

On Wednesday, in response to Barak's remarks, Assad accused Israel of “pushing the region towards war”.

During a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos in Damascus, Assad said that the Jewish State "is not serious about achieving peace”.

Also on Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said that "Israel knows that if it declares war on Syria, such war will reach its cities as well."

In response, Lieberman on Thursday warned Syrian President Bashar Assad that in the event of war with Israel, "not only will you lose the war, you and your family will no longer be in power."

Meanwhile, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul- Gheit on Friday urged Israel to stop its "hostile" remarks about a possible war in the Middle East. "Egypt opposes Israel's escalating tone of hostility against any Arab country and its threats of war," Abul-Gheit said.

He also warned that irresponsible remarks might hurt the ongoing peacemaking efforts. "The Israeli remarks came as several regional and international powers, topped by Egypt, work towards reviving hopes for just and comprehensive peace in the region," he added.

The United States also urging Syria and Israel to show restraint and return to the negotiations table.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper on Friday quoted sources in Washington who addressed the tension between the two countries, and called for Syria to "show restraint and not take any measures that would hinder launching negotiations."

“LIEBERMAN WILL INCREASE ISRAEL’S ISOLATION”
Meanwhile, Israeli Minorities Minister Avishay Braverman (Labor) told a cultural forum in Ramat Hasharon on Saturday that "the foreign minister (Lieberman) is busy with internal politics rather than diplomacy."

"Given Israel's sensitive position in the international community, we are in need of diplomacy and a responsible and prudent foreign policy, not a policy that is driven by domestic political considerations," said Braverman.

"The damage (Lieberman) caused Israel's image in the international community is not only short-term; it will increase Israel's isolation in the long-term," he added.

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