LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Syria: Mediterranean Sea
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Syria, which has a seat on the UN Security Council, is in agreement with France and Germany that the UN should be the only authority in Iraq. Says Ms. Shaaban: "I think the US is heading in that direction. It will be the only solution for them."
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Between 1962 and 1966, Syria agitated Israeli interests by attempting to divert headwaters of the Jordan River, by firing on Israeli fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, and by using the Golan Heights to snipe at Israeli settlements. These conflicts contributed to the Arab-Israeli War of June, 1967. During the war Israel captured the Golan Heights (stretching about 12 mi/19 km into Syria northeast of the Sea of Galilee), and it held on to this territory after a cease-fire went into effect. After the war Syria maintained its anti-Israel stance. In 1968–69 the Ba'ath party was again torn by factional strife, and it divided into the “progressives†(led by al-Attassi), who favored state control of the economy and close cooperation with the USSR, and the “nationalists†(headed by Gen. Hafez al-Assad), who emphasized the need to defeat Israel, to improve relations with other Arab states, and to lessen Syria's economic and military dependence on the USSR.
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Despite that the modern Syria was established little more than 50 years ago, the area is to be claimed as one of the oldest civilisations in the world. Archaeologists found settlements at Ras Shamra (6600 BC) on Mediterranean coast and Tell Hariri (4500 BC) on the Euphrates River which were advanced city-states.
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Since 1974 oil has been Syria's most important source of revenue; declining production in the early 21st cent. was offset by higher oil prices. In 2006, petroleum and agriculture together accounted for one half of the country's GDP. Latakia and Tartus are the main seaports. The chief exports are crude oil, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, clothing, meat and live animals, and wheat. The principal imports are machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, livestock, metals, chemicals, plastics, yarn, and paper. The leading trade partners are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Germany, and Egypt.
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Since 1974 oil has been Syria's most important source of revenue, accounting for about 65% of its exports in the late 1990s. Latakia and Tartus are the main seaports. The annual value of Syria's imports is greater than the value of its exports. The principal imports are machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, metals, textiles, chemicals, and consumer goods; the chief exports are petroleum, textiles, farm products, and phosphates. The leading trade partners are Germany, Italy, France, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.
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F[R]om the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, from Zenobia to the Crusaders, there is not an inch of land in Syria that history and men have left untouched. A veritable open-air museum, with deserts and oases, blue beaches and valleys dotted with olive trees, the earth itself in this cradle of humanity is steeped in an Oriental perfume. A land of biblical tribes, its most beautiful legends are born there where the sand has turned to stone.
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