A rchive Date
[ 17-04-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Syria ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/04/16/66927-ap.html
Syria plays down U.S. accusations
By ZEINA KARAM - Associated Press
Wed, April 16, 2003
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria is continuing a quiet, constructive diplomacy with the United States that belies the tone of U.S. accusations that Syria is sheltering members of the toppled Iraqi regime and harboring chemical weapons, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Wednesday.
"Things are not so bad. . . The diplomatic channels are much quieter and much more constructive," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bouthayna Shaaban said. "I really take all these statements with a positive tinge to them. The objective is to engage and talk about issues rather than to threaten."
In recent days, senior U.S. officials, including President Bush, stepped up criticism of Syria, accusing it of providing Iraq with war material, giving haven to senior Iraqi officials and permitting foreign fighters to join the war against the U.S.-led coalition. Syria's government has denied the allegations, but the charges raised concerns among some people that Syria could be the next U.S. target.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell toned down the administration's rhetoric. "There is no war plan to go and attack someone else, either for the purpose of overthrowing their leadership or for the purpose of imposing democratic values," he said, although he also repeated the accusations against Syria.
Other U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity Tuesday, said Syria had been quietly helpful in the war against the al-Qaida terror network and there was no evidence that help was abating.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said Wednesday that his government was prepared to sign a U.N.-authorized treaty that would declare the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction. Syria, the only Arab nation on the Security Council, said it would present to the council a draft resolution on such a treaty on behalf of the 21 Arab member states.
Al-Sharaa told the Australian broadcast service SBS that it would be better "for every citizen on Earth" if the Middle East were free of such weapons. Al-Sharaa also said his country did not recruit or train the Syrians who recently crossed into Iraq to fight for President Saddam Hussein's regime.
At the briefing, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman charged that the accusations from U.S. leaders were initiated in Israel and called them "absolutely groundless."
Asked about U.S. forces shutting down a pipeline used for oil shipments from Iraq to Syria despite U.N. trade restrictions, Shaaban said: "We lived without the Iraqi pipeline for 20 years. We could live for another 20 years. There'd be no problem."
Syrian and Iraqi officials have routinely denied oil was being transferred through a pipeline between the countries, though the shipments were an open secret.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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