The Syrian Minister for Information, on a recent visit to the UK, gave his opinions on how best to achieve some form of long-term peace settlement in the Middle East.

Speaking to journalists in London recently, he said that he believed lasting peace could only be achieved by Israel giving up land occupied since the 1967 war.

Moshen Bilal spoke about the chances of improving relations, but seemed sceptical in the current climate: “I recognise that there is a new term, particular in the west in the US Bush administration…used to call terrorism is ‘Muslim terrorism’ or ‘Islamist terrorism’ and the new term from President Bush, “Muslim fascism.’’

Every few months or year we receive new insults, new bad words, and these kind of insults and terms do not help to build confidence, or to rebuild some confidence between Muslims, on the Arab side and the western side in such matters.”

“The last Israeli aggression destroyed and devastated Lebanon. The intention was to eliminate and eradicate the resistance from these people ,and you know, everyone knew the resistance is a complete reaction to the occupation.

“My dear friends, the core of the problem, is the occupation of the Israelis to Arab lands, since 1967. It is impossible to sign a peace without a complete withdrawal of Israelis from all Arab territories occupied during the war of 1967”

“With such initiatives, the problems and the conflicts could go in the right way. And we assure to you, when Israel decides to withdraw and recognises the right to the Palestinians to build, the independent, sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as a capital, and to recognise the right of the Palestinian refugees to come back home, after that, the peace could be signed not only from Syrians, not only from Palestinians, not only from Lebanese but from all Arab countries, and that is the essence of the Arab peace initiative, which was signed in Beirut on the 28th of March, 2002.’’

Mr Bilal was speaking in London ahead of a meeting in Britain’s parliament to discuss the future of the region and ways of forging closer ties.