Draft letter from Willi Stoph to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in response to al-Assad's 6 and 10 October 1973 letters to Stoph

Draft

President of
The Syrian Arabian Republic
Hafez al-Assad

Damascus


Dear Comrade President,

I have informed the First Secretary of the CC SED, comrade Erich Honecker, and the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED on the messages which you forwarded on 6 and 10 October, 1973 in connection with the renewed Israeli aggression.

Already on 7 October, 1973 the SED CC Politburo, the State Council and the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic have sharply condemned Israel's new aggression and assured active solidarity with the Arab people through a resolution.

The people of the GDR are outraged about the shameless and criminal acts of violence committed by the Israeli aggressors. On hundreds of solidarity meetings, demonstrations and works meetings they denounce and condemn Israel as the aggressor.

Dear Comrade president, there is no doubt that the political and social achievements of your people as well as the strong alliance of your country with the Soviet Union and other countries of the socialist community are a thorn in imperialism's side.

Through the aggression and the escalation of the criminal acts of war against the Syrian and Egyptian people, Israel and its imperialist backers want to suppress the will for freedom and curb social progress in the Arab world. This must not and will not happen.

The GDR decidedly condemns the barbaric acts of terrorism against the Syrian civilian population and the brutal destruction of vital objects and facilities. We strongly protest the violation of rules of international law and the disregard of the Charter of the United Nations. For the righteous fight, which your people fight against the aggressor and for the liberation of the territory occupied by Israel, the GDR will always provide active support.

Our people look with respect to the steadfastness, the courage, and the readiness to make sacrifices of the Syrian people and its armed forces. The people's fight for independence, the defense of their sovereignty, territorial integrity, and social progress, cannot be stopped by aggression and terror.
The GDR still advocates a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, on the basis of a cessation of Israeli aggression and Israeli terror, the liberation of the Arab territory which is being occupied by Israel, and the implementation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Please allow us to assure you that the GDR will do everything in its powers to effectively support the fight of the people of the Syrian Arab Republic against the imperialist-Zionist aggression.

I wish you, dear Comrade President, strength and good health in these days, to your people's benefit.

Yours respectfully,

[signed]
/E. Honecker/
/H. Linden/
Willi Stoph