'A Long Road Ahead'

Definitely. We're going to change. The first thing I proposed as president was the issue of change. But change requires different and complicated elements. Part of our political life is based on traditions and customs [that] go back thousands of years. It's not easy to change traditions by laws or legislation. Change needs time, and it needs a clear vision. We have started [a] dialogue here in Syria, [but] we are still at the beginning of this process. There is a long road ahead of us.

Will you try to address any of the Bush administration's objections to Syria in order to bridge the gap with Washington?

We have addressed these issues before. Most importantly, [the issue of] saving American lives in the war against terrorism. But of course this does not mean that we have identical views with the United States on everything. They interfere in everything, they even want to change the headlines on Syrian papers ... The important thing is to continue this dialogue with them.

Is there anything Syria can do to break the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock?

We do not have relations with the Israelis, and our relations with the Palestinian Authority are quite weak. Effectively, we cannot play a role without defining this role clearly. Making a breakthrough means negotiations based on United Nations resolutions. This is the only thing that will break the cycle of violence. We see that violence is escalating day after day. Every day we delay the achievement of peace, peace becomes more difficult to obtain.

Washington says that another of its reasons for imposing sanctions is your continued military presence in Lebanon and your support for Hizbullah [which the United States classifies as a terrorist organization].