We cannot accept what we see every day on the television screens of innocents being killed

On the issue of terrorism, there was condemnation of what took place in the United States on 11 September.

Of course, this condemnation is natural, as there is no country in the world, which says that it supports terrorism...

It goes without saying that at the same time, we distinguished - I personally made this distinction - between resistance and terrorism, and between Islam and terrorism.

There is a big difference.

Resistance is a social, religious, and legal right, a right that is acknowledged by UN resolutions...

We spoke about the causes of terrorism. I mentioned, but I especially paused with one. This is a cause that is clear to many citizens in the Arab area or in the Islamic region. It is the feeling that the value of citizens in this region is different from the value of citizens in the West...

Assad and Blair "agreed on many points"

Terrorism remains terrorism, whether it takes place in the United States, in Europe, in the Middle East, or in Asia and Africa, and man has the same value wherever he is.

We spoke about how to tackle terrorism. I mentioned that we should start by defining this term...

We must define this enemy and we must determine its shape and nature. Then we should move to analyse the causes that led to terrorism.

Therefore, if we want to combat terrorism, we must deal with the causes and not the results. So far, the results of terrorism have been tackled while the causes have not been tackled, or have only just been tackled...

[On peace in the Middle East] Syria's stand on peace has not changed, as it is a strategic and not tactical stand.

Israel is a state that exercises systematic terrorism... state terrorism

On the opposite side, Israel daily proves in our opinion that it is against this peace. A desire for peace can never be in line with the desire to kill.

The declared list of assassinations cannot be an indication that there is a desire to achieve a real and stable peace, or stability in the region.

We did not link the peace process and terrorism.

Many link the Middle East issue to terrorism directly and one understands from such talk that the Middle East issue is the source of terrorism.

This is not true, irrespective of our viewpoint as Arabs that Israel is a state that exercises systematic terrorism and that this is state terrorism. This is something else.

The Middle East issue could activate and often encourages terrorism, for terrorists always need a cover

But the Middle East issue could activate and often encourages terrorism, for terrorists always need a cover.

This could be a national cause, a pan-Arab cause, a religious cause, or a social cause. Therefore, the settlement of problems and the hotbeds of tension in the world deprive these terrorists of this cover.

The last point I want to say about peace is that we in Syria cannot see with one eye as some do.

We cannot dissociate the issue of terrorism we daily see and experience in Israel against the Palestinians from the terrorism that is present in the world...

[On Afghanistan] We cannot accept what we see every day on the television screens of innocents being killed, I think hundreds are now dying every day. I do not think that anyone in the West can accept this...

At the end of our meeting, I told the prime minister that no matter how dark the picture might be, we may be able to get some ray of light when there is a will."