Ireland had friendly relations with Syria the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said yesterday, despite accusations from senior US officials that it was developing weapons of mass destruction.
Speaking to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen said there was no evidence to suggest the US was preparing to attack Syria and described such comments as "unhelpful".
"Syria is a country which Ireland and the European Union members continue to have friendly relations with," he said. "Questions have been raised about Syria which fall well short of any threat of military action."
President Bush accused the Middle East state of developing chemical weapons and said he expected co-operation from it on the issue.
In an address on the Middle East peace process, Mr Cowen said recent events in Iraq made it all the more necessary to ensure there was an international focus on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He said it was a major cause for concern and killings and injuries were continuing almost daily. In some of his strongest comments to date on the role of the Israeli government in the peace process, he criticised the administration for continuing its "provocative project to build its so-called security fence on illegally confiscated Palestinian land". He said the fence offered doubtful security to Israel, was an impediment to the peace process and an affront to the dignity of Palestinians.
Mr Cowen said he was prepared to use Ireland's presidency of the EU to help implement a blueprint for peace agreed late last year between the US, EU, Russia and UN. This peace plan, known as the quartet road map, is to be presented shortly. It sets out a three-year period under which a viable Palestinian state would be set up with internationally recognised borders.
