Region | Syria
Mua'alem rejects US concerns over potential arms buildup
Syria's foreign minister yesterday rejected US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's expressed concern over a potential arms buildup by the Middle Eastern country.
- AP
- Published: 23:43 August 26, 2008
Nicosia: Syria's foreign minister yesterday rejected US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's expressed concern over a potential arms buildup by the Middle Eastern country.
Walid Mua'alem said Rice should "look after her own interests" and that "she has nothing to do with Syria." Rice said on Monday that the region should be concerned about the potential for major new military sales to Syria by Russia at a time when the Middle Eastern country is engaged in indirect peace talks with Israel.
Mua'alem spoke after talks with Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias. The Syrian official is on a two-day official visit to the ethnically divided island.
MoU to be signed
Mua'alem will today sign a memorandum of understanding with Cypriot counterpart Markos Kyprianou on "bilateral political consultations." He will also sign an agreement to abolish visa requirements for diplomats.
A ferry service opened last year between the Syrian port of Lattakia and Cyprus' breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, straining relations between Damascus and the island's internationally recognised government in the Greek Cypriot south.
The Cypriot government is concerned that the ferry link boosts the status of the Turkish Cypriot administration that is recognised only by Turkey, and could undermine a renewed drive to reunify the island.
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