 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Syria calls on France to help end Gaza blockade
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria’s state-run news agency says President Bashar Assad has urged France and the European Union to help end the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
SANA says Assad made his comments Sunday while receiving Claude Gueant, French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s chief of staff, and Sarkozy’s diplomatic adviser, Jean-David Levitte.
Israel tightened its blockade of Gaza earlier this month in response to mortar and rocket attacks from the coastal strip.
Assad says the blockade is causing more suffering each day.
Syria hosts the exiled leadership of the militant Palestinian group Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007. Issa2= Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, shakes hands with Lebanon’s army commander Jean Kahwaji at Al-Shaab Presidential Palace, in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday Nov. 29, 2008. Kahwaji is expected to discuss with top Syrian army officials the fate of Lebanon soldiers captured in 1990 when Syrian troops took over Lebanon’s presidential palace and other military affairs. Kahwaji’s visit is the first by a Lebanese army commander since Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2005. (AP)
