DAMASCUS, March 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria and Tunisia on Sunday vowed adherence to the peace initiative approved by the 2002 Beirut Arab summit and relaunched recently as a base for achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region, the official SANA news agency reported.

    The initiative offers Israel normalization of relations if the Jewish state withdraws to the borders before the 1967 Mideast War and meets other Arab conditions.

    Syria and Tunisia made their pledge in a final statement issued after the 6th session of their Joint Higher Committee, which also urged Israel to return all occupied Arab lands including Syria's Golan Heights and Lebanon's Shebaa farms in exchange for peace. The two countries renewed their support to the Palestinians, hailing efforts by the Palestinian leadership for unifying the Palestinian ranks and resuming the peace process.

    On the Iraqi issue, the statement stressed that Syria and Tunisia will be committed to Iraq's territorial integrity and called for completion of the Iraqi political process after the elections.

    The two sides also expressed hope to see a Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction and condemned all types of terrorism. The two-day session of the joint committee was co-chaired by Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri and his Tunisian counterpart Mohamed Ghannouchi who wrapped up his visit to Damascuslater Saturday and flew back to Tunisia.

    During the meetings, the two countries inked a number of agreements, protocols and memorandums of understanding in fields of resources, technical cooperation, post services and social affairs. Bilateral trade between Syria and Tunisia witnessed a steady growth during the past decade and trade volume reached 774 million Syrian pounds (about 15.5 million US dollars) in 2002.Syria's trade surplus to Tunisia has jumped from 89.4 million Syrian pounds (about 1.8 million dollars) in 1992 to 446 million(about 8.9 million dollars) in 2002. Enditem