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Syrian Amb.: Russia Won't Build Ports Here

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Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, flatly denied news reports that Moscow had asked Damascus for port facilities on the Mediterranean coast.

In an exclusive interview with NewsMax's Stewart Stogel, Ja'afari said, "This is not true, there has been no request from the Russian Navy. We do have a "friendship" agreement, but there has been no agreement on the use of Syrian ports by the Russian Navy."

The Syrian diplomat insisted that the reports on the Russian "request" had been floated by Israel.

Moscow has been publicly expressing a desire to regain a military presence in the Mediterranean, a presence abandoned when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

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  Syria had been a main "base" of operations for the Soviet Navy in the region.

Ja'afari also explained that Damascus was ready "to resume" a dialog with Israel, but under a multi-national format as outlined in the historic Madrid Agreement.

The ambassador also took the opportunity to urge both warring Palestinian factions to "reconcile."

Ja'afari stressed that the only way for the Palestinians to see any progress in their negotiations with Israel was "to speak with one voice."

"A national unity government is necessary if the Palestinians want to see progress," he added.

He added that a divided Palestinian state (West Bank-Gaza) "was not viable."

The U.S., he says, is responsible for the current crisis: "They (the U.S.) tried to undercut the Hamas government from the start. They caused this problem."

Ja'afari added that Syria's relations with Capitol Hill "are improving."

He sited a recent trip by a Congressional delegation, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to Damascus as a signal that relations between Syria and a Democratic-led Congress "are getting better."

Conversely, the ambassador hastened to add that relations with the White House "have been in limbo."

"In fact I believe they have actually gotten worse. They (the White House) like to use us as a scapegoat," he proclaimed.

Look for the full Q & A with Amb. Ja'afari on Thuirsday.

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