Miliband in Damascus: 2009 will be "important year"
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Tuesday his talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad focused on ways of achieving a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
According to Reuters, Miliband said next year would be "an important year" in the region. "We all now have choices to make on how to fulfil comprehensive peace," Miliband said after talks with Assad.
Earlier, Miliband said Damascus had a choice about which path to take in terms of playing a part in stabilising the Middle East. "It is very important to understand that Syria has a big potential role to play in stability in the Middle East," he told BBC radio. "It can be a force for stability or it can be a force for instability.
"Over the last 18 months, I have been talking with the Syrian foreign minister about... Syria's responsibilities in the region in respect of counter-terrorism, in respect of Iraq, in respect of the Middle East peace process," Miliband said.