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| US Warned Over Syria - 15th April | ||
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US warned over Syria stance
The US said it might impose economic, diplomatic and other unspecified sanctions against Damascus if President Bashar al-Assad failed to take what it called the right decisions. The Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Musa, said he was astounded by the threats and an Egyptian spokesman warned against what he called the targeting of Arab countries one by one. Earlier, Russia and the European Union urged the US to show restraint in its dealings with Syria, which is accused of developing chemical weapons and helping fugitive Iraqi officials. Syria has strongly denied the US allegations. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has already expressed concern that recent statements about Syria may further destabilise the Middle East.US Secretary of State Colin Powell, said there was a new situation in the Middle East following the removal of Saddam Hussein, and he hoped all nations in the region would review their past behaviour. The Americans say Syria is a "terrorist state" - it is included on the US State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. But Russia says the US statements can only aggravate the situation and complicate a post-war settlement in Iraq. The Russian views were echoed by the French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, who said dialogue was essential. And the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, urged the US to tone down its statements about Syria, saying it was time to reduce the tension. At the White House, the presidential spokesman, Ari Fleischer, repeatedly dodged the question of whether Syria might be next for US military action - intentional ambiguity clearly designed to put the frighteners on Damascus, says the BBC's Rob Watson. And US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Syria had carried out chemical weapons tests in the past 12 to 15 months. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw denied suggestions that Syria was "next on the list" to be targeted, but stressed it had to answer some "important questions". Syrian assurances A Syrian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Bouthana Shaaban, insisted that "the only country in the region which has chemical, biological and nuclear weapons is Israel". And the fact that a senior Iraqi official had been found near the Iraqi-Syrian border was "evidence that Syria didn't let him in, and didn't let any member of the family in or anybody of the regime in," she told the BBC."We never had friendly relations with them and certainly none of them even applied to come to Syria," she said. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair told Parliament he had received an assurance from Syrian President Assad that no fleeing Iraqi officials would be allowed into Syria. But according to a top Iraqi general who switched sides during the war, Syria has given refuge to members of Saddam Hussein's regime. General Ali al-Jajjawi - former Republican Guard commander in the northern city of Mosul - said Saddam's Baath Party deputy Izzat Ibrahim and other top figures had fled to Syria shortly before the city fell last Friday. Fraught relations Ties between the US and Syria have long been strained by US support for Israel and Syria's backing of the Lebanese group Hezbollah and radical Palestinian groups, which Washington considers "terrorist". The US has also repeatedly accused Syria of the "hostile act" of supplying Iraq with night vision goggles and other military equipment. US intelligence has long suspected Syria of having a well-developed chemical weapons programme as well as long-range missiles. Some US experts believe Syria's programme started in earnest after clashes with Israel in 1982, with two chemical weapons plants established by 1984 to produce significant amounts of nerve gases such as Sarin and VX.
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