DAMASCUS, Nov. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria reasserted Sunday its support to the Palestinians to restore their legitimate rights and establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, the official SANA news agency reported.

    Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shareh made the remarks while meeting with new head of the Palestinians' mainstream Fatah faction Farouq Qadoumi.

    Shareh stressed the necessity to enhance unity of different Palestinian ranks in this critical stage, SANA said.

    For his part, Qadoumi told reporters that he stressed the Palestinian caretaker leadership's desire to enhance coordinationsand cooperations with Damascus during the meeting.

    He also warned that the Palestinians would cancel the Jan. 9election to pick up a successor to late leader Yasser Arafat unless Israel withdraws from the occupied territories.

    "The election will not take place unless Israel pulls back so that people can move freely," he said.

    After the brief visit to Damascus, Qadoumi was scheduled to headfor Beirut later on Sunday. Enditem