In September, Arafat called for the first Palestinian general election since 1996 after Washington called on the PLO to choose new leaders. But he warned the election is in doubt while Israeli forces occupy Palestinian towns.
Syria has a history of poor relations with Arafat, but Assad had repeatedly asked European politicians if they saw any alternative to Arafat to run the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and nobody had an answer. He said Israel wants to weaken Arafat and bring in a group of people "we know by name" who have good relations with it. The result will be more turbulence in the Middle East... "The result of reform will be destruction."
Assad and Blair disagreed over Syria's role as host to militant groups waging attacks against Israel. Assad described their representatives in Damascus as "press officers" and called Western criticism of Palestinian suicide bombers one-sided. He said that Israel has planes that hit Palestinian houses and kill Palestinians with bombs and missiles. The Palestinians have no missiles or F-16s, "so they have to go themselves and kill Israelis."
Beshar Assad became yesterday the first Syrian President to be granted an audience with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London.
