Syrian, Palestinian presidents seek unified Arab stance in Damascus

Damascus - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sought a unified Arab stance on negotiations with Israel during their meeting in Damascus on Saturday, a Palestinian spokesman said. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech last week outlining his government's policy on the Israeli-Arab conflict had made clear the necessity of a joint Arab stance. 'There should be greater cooperation among Arabs, especially considering that the policies Netanyahu unveiled in his speech do not live up to the minimum demands of the Arabs,' Erekat said. He had initially called the speech 'a slap in the face.' Abbas heads the Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank. Syria hosts political leaders from such rival Palestinian factions as Hamas, who take a harder line on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Egyptian-brokered negotiations on a Palestinian 'national unity' government have faltered over whether the new government would recognize Israel and abandon violence, among other issues. Hamas has so far refused to do either. 'The Syrian and the Palestinian presidents' positions are similar,' Erekat said in Damascus. 'They share a belief in a just and comprehensive peace in exchange for total withdrawal' from the territories Israel occupied in its 1967 war with Arab states. He added that al-Assad had expressed his support for Egyptian efforts to reconcile rival Palestinian factions. Erekat said Abbas and al-Assad had discussed Abbas' meetings with US President Barack Obama last month, and both of their meetings with his Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. Abbas is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Sunday, before continuing to Egypt and Jordan.