Annan in Syria for talks on Hezbollah embargo, abducted soldiers

[bemildred]

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Syria on Thursday to press its government to join international efforts to stop the flow of arms to Hezbollah and on the release of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted by the guerrilla group in July.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League on Thursday blasted Annan for his plan to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying that it demeaned and degraded his office.

Annan's visit to Syria, one of Hezbollah's major backers, follows stops in Lebanon and Israel, where he demanded those governments respect and fully implement the UN Security Council resolution that ended a month of Hezbollah-Israel fighting on August 14.

The UN chief flew to Damascus from Jordan, where he said the time was ripe for normal ties between Lebanon and Israel.

Haaretz

[maxsolomon]

1. see, chucklenuts? you go TALK to those you have issues with.

you can do a lot without 'appeasing', warmongering fascists.

[maddezmom]

2. kick

[bemildred]

3. Annan says Syria ready for Lebanon ties

Ooooooops, sorry mods, forgot to check the date.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian President Bashar Assad told the U.N. secretary-general Friday that his government is prepared to establish formal diplomatic relations with Lebanon and delineate the border, steps Syria has resisted for six decades.

Many in Lebanon expressed skepticism, saying Assad's promises to U.N. chief Kofi Annan would likely remain just talk unless international pressure mounted on Damascus.

For Syria, the step would be seen as recognition that its decades-long domination of its smaller neighbor is truly over after crumbling the last year.

Many Lebanese suspect Syria has never really accepted Lebanon's independence and remains angry that parts of their country were carved out of the former Syrian province of the Ottoman Empire in 1920.

MercuryNews