armed gangs bent on systematic killings and war crimes
In his annual speech to the UN General Assembly, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa accused Israel of "inciting Americans, first, and then the West, to wage endless wars in the Middle East."
He also said that a "wave of pessimism had taken over the world because of extremist and intolerant policies advanced by some strategic think-tanks" who search for a new enemy after the Soviet Union collapsed.
Al-Sharaa added that Israel "has contributed to the making of many of these flimsy pretexts.
"Israel bears an important share of the responsibility for intensifying and worsening the American predicament in Iraq by avoiding the resumption of the peace process, despite the hand extended in peace by the Palestinians, Syrian and Lebanese," he said.
He also said that the failure of the peace process is a "major cause of the rejection of American policies in the broader Middle East."
The road map peace plan has largely been suspended and members of the Quartet, the group which designed the plan, warn that the situation in the region is deteriorating. The Quartet is made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
The last round of Middle East peace talks in which Syria was involved collapsed. These talks were hosted by the United States in 2000. Syria hopes to regain the Golan Heights, which had been seized by Israel in the Mid East war.
"The world community today bears witness to Israel's persistent noncompliance with 40 resolutions adopted by the (UN) Security Council and 600 others adopted by the General Assembly," the Syrian minister said.
He continued that Israel "did not implement a single one of them, and continues to find protection inside and outside the United Nations,"
The United states had previously used Iraq�s noncompliance with UN resolutions as one of its rationales for the war on Iraq.
Tarek El-Tablawy/Newsday/AP 27.Sep.04
