ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 23 - Damascus Urges Washington To Work For Peace.

Syrian Pres. Bashar Al Asad is quoted by Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) as saying: "We look forward to see the United States, under President Bush, playing an effective role to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in our region. (This should be) a role that would take into consideration the related UN resolutions and the American pledges made at the start of the peace process under (former) President George Bush". (Talks between Syria and Israel, opened at the ME peace conference in Madrid in 1991 and based on the land-for-peace principle, were sponsored by George Bush's administration. The talks have been stalled since late 1999 over Syrian demands for a total Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 war).