[Syrian President Bashar Assad walks past Republican Guards at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Read photo caption below].

PARIS (Islamweb & Agencies) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Tuesday Israel's actions could lead to a new Middle East war.
``All Arab governments are trying to show restraint because a war would be in no one's interest. But what Israel is doing is leading us closer to war,'' Assad, on an official visit to Paris, told the foreign affairs committee of the National Assembly.
``We are going to do everything we can to avoid war,'' said the Syrian leader, stating that the Syrian people were ``ready for peace.''
He was speaking amid continuing bloodshed in a nine-month-old Palestinian revolt[Intefada] against Israeli occupation in which 600 people have been killed.
Assad told the French lawmakers the situation in the Middle East now is worse than it was before the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was launched in 1991.
``Many believe the peace process is agonizing he said.
The Syrian president called for an increased European role in the Middle Eastern diplomatic process. ``Without an active European role, it will be hard to reach a real peace in the region,'' he said.
Assad's visit has caused controversy in France due to remarks he recently made which many here claim were anti-Semitic. Assad says since he and the entire Arab nation are also Semitic, the accusations are simply null and void and fall within Israel’s on going media distortion campaign about its Semitic credentials.
Questioned on the subject by one of the French lawmakers, Assad denied that his remarks were anti-Jewish, insisting that he had spoken out against Israelis, not Jews.
``I used an analogy between the sufferings of the Palestinians and the sufferings of Jesus. The Western media said I had attacked Jews, but no, I was talking about the Israelis, not the Jews,'' said Assad.
``We, as Muslims, recognize Judaism as a religion inspired by the same God as Christianity and Islam. So we can absolutely not be against Judaism,'' he added.
Assad last month told Pope John Paul II the Jews betrayed Jesus Christ and tried to betray and kill the Prophet Mohammad. The United States and France denounced the remarks as anti-Semitic. Assad has since said he was misunderstood.
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PHOTO CAPTION

Syrian President Bashar Assad walks past Republican Guards as he arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday June 25, 2001. Assad is in France for a three-day state visit. (AP Photo/Michel Lipchitz)
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