Assad Sees Hope for Peace, Accuses Israel
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DAMASCUS, Syria — President Hafez Assad said Sunday that there is still hope for achieving a Middle East peace settlement but only one clearly based on U.N. resolutions.
In remarks shortly before the departure of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for Libya after talks in Damascus, the Syrian leader accused Israel of blocking peace.
Assad’s comments were the first in public since the fourth visit to the region in two months by Secretary of State James A. Baker III to coax Israel and the Arabs to the conference table.
Asked if there is hope for peace, Assad said, “If there was no hope, we would not have conducted these talks.”
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