Oct 27, 2009, 14:48 GMT
Damascus - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Tuesday questioned the European Union's commitment to human rights, the Syrian newspaper al-Watan reported.
Al-Moallem summoned ambassadors from EU countries to his office to tell them that their countries' stances on South African jurist Richard Goldstone's report on the war in the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year 'led us, and many, to question Europe's interest in human rights.'
The 575-page report accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during fighting in the Gaza Strip last December and January.
Following pressure from the United States and Israel, the Palestinian Authority originally withdrew its support for a vote in the UN Human Rights Council on whether the report should be transferred to the UN General Assembly.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday reversed his position and asked that the report be resubmitted.
Al-Moallem asked EU countries to reconsider their stances on the report, which he said 'lead Israel to feel that it ... will not be held accountable, which makes all peace efforts in vain.'
Syria has repeatedly objected to language in an EU association agreement that would allow the EU to cancel the agreement if Syria did not show improvements in its human rights record.
Syria had been due to sign the agreement, which would pave the way for its full participation in the European Neighbourhood Policy, in Luxembourg on Monday, but last week requested 'more time to study the agreement.'
All other countries along the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean have signed similar agreements with the EU.
Syrian and EU diplomats drafted an agreement in 2004, but negotiations snagged over provisions introduced by the Netherlands making 'respect for human rights ... one of the essential elements' of the agreement.
Al-Moallem has repeatedly raised objections to those provisions, calling them 'political conditions.'
Relations between the EU and Syria are now governed by a more limited cooperation agreement signed in 1997. The EU has allocated Syria more than 280 million euros (420 million dollars) in aid since 1995.
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