Syrian President Assad Meets British Defense Secretary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 19, 2002

Syrian President Assad Meets British Defense Secretary

Visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday held talks with British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon and discussed Iraq and other issues of mutual concern.

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Visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday held talks with British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon and discussed Iraq and other issues of mutual concern.

Among other issues, the two men discussed a possible United States-led war against Iraq, a British defense ministry spokesman said.

President Assad's meeting with Hoon came shortly before the release of a statement by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw alleging that Iraq's declaration on weapons of mass destruction amounted toan "obvious falsehood."

In London on his first official visit, Assad had strongly criticized Western policies towards the Middle East, and warned that a war against Iraq would intensify terrorist attacks.

During his stay here, Assad held talks with Prime Minister TonyBlair on Monday and Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday.

Assad said on Tuesday that Iraq did not pose a threat to the Middle East region. He also argued that any US-led military campaign against Iraq may have more to do with oil interests than weapons of mass destruction and might cause serious trouble in that region.

He also warned that a war on Iraq might set back the Arab worlda decade and made the gap between West and Arabian countries wider.

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