Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called on the United States to open direct negotiations, arguing that dialogue on security issues must not be allowed to break down. He made the appeal in an interview with the Turkish daily Hürriyet published on 25 February 2005, saying Damascus has been seeking engagement but had not found a willing counterpart in Washington.
Ties between the two countries had been strained for years, but the relationship deteriorated sharply after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in Beirut on 14 February. Washington implicated Syria in the killing and subsequently hardened its position, demanding a full Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon.
Assad told the paper that the US had the potential to prevent global instability but was operating without a coherent regional strategy. He accused Washington of evaluating Middle East issues solely through the lens of its own interests, arguing the approach had cost the United States credibility and influence.
The day before the interview appeared, Damascus said it would begin moving troops toward the Lebanese border. It was not clear whether the redeployment would lead to a complete pullout of the roughly 14,000 soldiers stationed there, a step the UN Security Council had demanded the previous September.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in February 2005, in its own words.