Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad sent out peace feelers to Israel -- via the U.S. -- in 2010, according to a new book by Obama-era Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli daily Haaretz reported Tuesday.
In his new memoir, “Every Day is Extra”, Kerry writes about his experiences dealing with international issues and U.S. policymaking during his career in politics and diplomacy.
In regards to Syria, Kerry -- who served as a senator before his diplomatic appointment -- recalls a meeting he had with Assad while he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
According to Kerry, when he “pressed” Assad regarding the latter’s continued support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Syrian leader said: “Everything is to be negotiated.”
The Kremlin dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's warning to Syria not to launch an offensive in the opposition-held enclave of Idlib, saying on Tuesday that the area was a "nest of terrorism".Trump on Monday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Iran and Russia not to "recklessly attack" the northwestern Syrian province, saying hundreds of thousands of people could be killed."Just to speak out with some warnings, without taking into account the very dangerous, negative potential for the whole situation in Syria, is probably not a full, comprehensive approach," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.The presence of the opposition in Idlib was undermining the Syrian peace process and making the region a base for attacks on Russian forces in Syria, Peskov added.Trump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ Idlib"A fairly large group has settled there and of course this leads to a general destabilisation of the situation. It undermines attempts to bring the situation onto the track of a political-diplomatic settlement," he said."We know that Syria's armed forces are preparing to resolve this problem," he added.Russia resumed air strikes in Idlib province on Tuesday after a hiatus of several weeks, according to a Syrian opposition member and a war monitor.A source has told Reuters that Assad is preparing a phased offensive to regain the province.The situation around Idlib will be one of the main items on the agenda when the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey meet in Tehran this week, Peskov told reporters on a conference call, declining to elaborate further. UN sees 'moment of truth' for Syria political processAssad sought peace with Israel in 2010: Kerry memoir
Kremlin dismisses Trump warning on Syria's Idlib
Kerry goes on to say how Assad had voiced readiness to change Syria’s policy on Hezbollah in the event that sought-for talks with Israel bore any fruit.
Haaretz quotes Kerry as writing: “Assad asked me what it would take to enter into serious peace negotiations [with Israel], in the hope of securing return of the Golan Heights, which Syria had lost to Israel in 1967.”
“I told him that if he were serious, he should make a private proposal,” Kerry adds. “He asked what it would look like. I shared my thoughts. He instructed his top aide to draft a letter from Assad to President Obama.”
According to the former secretary of state, Assad, in his letter, had asked Obama to sponsor a fresh round of Syria-Israel peace talks, expressing his readiness “to take a number of steps in exchange for the return of the Golan from Israel”.
A Syrian opposition member and a war monitor said Russian air strikes had resumed in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Tuesday after several weeks.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sworn to recapture every inch of Syria and has made big gains against the opposition since Russia joined his war effort in 2015.Last week, a source close to Damascus said the government was preparing a phased offensive to recover Idlib province, but Turkey, whose army has a string of observation posts around the edge of the area, has warned against such an assault.Possible war between Israel, Iran loomsRussian air raids ceased in and around Idlib on August 15, but pro-Syrian government forces have maintained an aerial bombardment and shelling against the opposition there, the war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.The opposition source and the Observatory both said the air strikes were in the countryside near Jisr al-Shughour on the western edge of the northwestern territory.Russian, Turkish and Iranian leaders are due to meet on Sept. 7 in Iran and are expected to discuss the situation in northwestern Syria.Germany urges prevention of disaster in Syria’s IdlibTrump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ IdlibTurkey deploys more military vehicles to Syrian borderFrance 'concerned' over the situation in Idlib
Russia resumes Idlib air strikes: Syrian Observatory
Kerry then reportedly recalls how he had visited Israel one day later, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who had been “surprised that Assad was willing to go that far”.
The Obama administration, Kerry writes, tested Assad’s seriousness about the proposal, asking him to take several “confidence-building measures”, including the halt of arms shipments to Hezbollah.
“Yet Assad disappointed the administration by failing to follow through on his promises,” Kerry writes.
Germany has urged the international community to act against a humanitarian disaster in the Syrian province of Idlib amid reports of a potential military offensive by the regime forces.“We will do everything to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Idlib,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told a news conference in Berlin on Monday.“This will be one of the main topics during my visit to Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday,” he added.Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrian people, many of whom fled from other cities which were attacked by the Assad regime’s forces.Trump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ Idlib“We have witnessed the brutality of the Assad regime in the past … it is a very, very serious situation,” Maas said.He also warned that a military escalation would severely undermine ongoing efforts for a political solution to the seven years of civil war in Syria.
Germany urges prevention of disaster in Syria’s Idlib
“I remember hearing that Assad was continuing with exactly the kind of behavior on Hezbollah that we told him needed to stop,” Haaretz quotes Kerry as saying in his book.
He adds: “It was disappointing but unsurprising.”
One year later, in 2011, conflict erupted in Syria, where Hezbollah continues to fight alongside the Assad regime.