Vienna  – Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said Tuesday in Vienna that US President Barack Obama would face a serious crisis in the Middle East if within a year he did not fix the mistakes made by his predecessor George W Bush.

Speaking at a discussion with Austrian leaders and intellectuals near the end of his two-day visit, al-Assad called on the United States to quickly withdraw its troops from Iraq, which would resolve “50 per cent of the problem,” Austrian press agency APA reported.

Earlier Tuesday, Austrian leaders urged al-Assad to use Syria’s influence to stabilize the wider Middle East region.

Austrian President Heinz Fischer said that Syria should get Tehran to respond constructively to resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and proposals from the international community for resolving the nuclear standoff with Iran.

Al-Assad said in the evening discussion that Syria could not play a role in the nuclear issue, though it would help to solve it.

Echoing Tehran’s position, Al-Assad called on the Security Council to refer the matter of Iran’s nuclear intentions back to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has a more technical outlook.

Al-Assad met with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, who urged Damascus to get Palestinian militants to work toward peace with Israel and to curb their terrorist activities, his spokesman, Thomas Zehetner, told German Press Agency dpa.

While the Austrian leaders stressed Syria’s potential role, Al- Assad said in the evening that it was hard to take the European Union seriously in the Middle East because of its lack of unity.

At a business forum, al-Assad stressed the political dimension of closer business cooperation with Austria, arguing that peace offered a chance for economic growth and more jobs, which would help fight extremism.

“We are working for peace,” al-Assad said.

However, he insisted that Israel give back the occupied Golan Heights to Syria and accept a two-state solution with the Palestinians before peace talks with Damascus can begin.

Al-Assad, who was accompanied by his wife, Asma, Deputy Premier Abdallah al-Dardari and Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, was due to travel Wednesday to Slovakia. (dpa)