The Israeli government was involved in a quiet decision by the European Union to delay a partnership deal that would have seen billions of dollars in trade flow between the EU and Syria, a move that should have revitalized Damascus' stagnant economy, informed Middle East diplomatic sources told WND.
A top member from Israel's foreign ministry held a series of meetings the past few weeks with his EU counterparts to protest the deal, which was drawn up first as a draft pact in 2004, said the sources. The deal is worth an estimated $7 billion a year for the Syrian economy.
The Bush administration delayed the deal for years since it was particularly opposed to Syria's interference in Lebanese affairs and Damascus' military alliance with Iran. WND reported last month the Obama administration dropped American opposition to the deal without first extracting a concession from Syria to end its military alliance with Iran or address suspected human rights violations.
A signing ceremony was reportedly supposed to take place last week, but was delayed.
According to the diplomatic sources, the Israeli official accused EU officials of "selling out" by agreeing to the deal without first demanding Syria halt a series of human rights violations in which Damascus has been implicated. The Israeli government also expressed concern about Syria's military alliance with Iran.
The diplomatic sources told WND that following Israeli protest, the EU added to the deal a series of strict human rights improvements to which Syria first must agree.
Suddenly last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad, who had lobbied hard for the deal, announced without explanation that his country was delaying the signing ceremony to "review the association agreement with Europe."
"It is a technical issue. Technical details can lead to disagreements," Assad said.
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