Syria's Assad sworn in for second term

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed to pursue economic reform and to crackdown on corruption he said had spread to the highest levels on Tuesday.

The 41-year-old, who secured 97 percent of the vote in a May referendum in which he was the only candidate, also called on Israel to respond to peace overtures from Damascus after he was sworn in for a second seven-year term.
Assad was seen as a reformer when he took office on the death of his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000 but is now under US pressure over its alleged role in the Lebanon and Iraq crises and a crackdown on political opponents. "We do not want secret talks. We ask Israel's leaders to state in a clear and official manner their desire for peace," Assad said in a speech to parliament. "We want Israel's leaders to give guarantees that all of our land will be returned. We cannot enter into negotiations without knowing" what is being discussed, he added.
Direct peace talks with Israel have been frozen since January 2000. Damascus is demanding the return of the occupied Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed in 1981.

Most of Assad's speech centred on domestic issues. He said his goal was "to strengthen the state... a strong state means development and stability" and develop a "social market ecomony" allowing for private initiative while safeguarding the rights of the poor.

Assad said hundreds of decrees and laws had been introduced in order to bring about reforms in monetary and fiscal policy, as well as boosting investment, opening private banking operations and creating a stock exchange. The president hailed an economic growth rate of what he said was at least five per cent in 2006 "despite difficult regional conditions."
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