Syria issues strongest denial yet of US allegations
Syria has issued its strongest denial yet of US accusations that it is harbouring Iraqi leaders and had given Saddam Hussein's government military assistance in the run-up to and during the war on Iraq.
“These (claims) are based on allegations that are baseless,” Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Shara told reporters at a joint news conference with his French counterpart Dominique De Villepin.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Shara (R) and his French counterpart Dominique De Villepin
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had said Washington would hold Damascus accountable for reported shipments of military equipment, including night vision goggles, to Iraq, describing them as “hostile acts.”
In recent days Washington has also accused Damascus of sheltering Iraqi officials fleeing their homeland.
Shara said Syria was not taking seriously what he called “threats” from the Bush administration because “they do not represent the general view in the United States.”
Syria is a staunch opponent of the US-led war against Iraq and has repeatedly warned that the conflict could plunge the region into chaos. But the sole Arab UN Security Council member supported UN resolution 1441 which established a tough new disarmament regime for Iraq last November.
“Sometimes (the Bush administration) don’t know what they want…we say to them give us evidence,” he said.
France called for an end to the war of words between the United States and Syria. But De Villepin, who met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, stopped short of backing Syria’s strong denial of the US claims as he made a lightning visit to Damascus on the second leg of his Middle East tour.
“Now is the time for a display of responsibility, not for polemics,” De Villepin told journalists when questioned about US charges at a joint news conference with Shara.
The Syrian foreign minister said Damascus’ ties with Saddam Hussein’s government were “not friendly for many years” and that Syria wanted to have good relations “with the American people.”
“We are victimised. I am telling you now because (the Bush administration) failed they are trying to pinpoint at a third country, perhaps Syria or another country,” he said.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier tried to quell speculation that Washington may move away from Iraq and set sights on Iran and Syria.
De Villepin said Paris believed Damascus had a “significant role to play” in any Iraq settlement. The French foreign minister arrived in Beirut Saturday evening where he will hold talks with Lebanese officials Sunday before heading on to Saudi Arabia.
Earlier in Cairo, De Villepin called on the US-led coalition to do more to rein in the lawlessness that has gripped Iraqi cities since US forces entered the heart of the capital on Wednesday.
De Villepin urged Arabs to “keep the faith,” vowing the international community was “more than ever ready to mobilise” in support of a comprehensive peace for the region.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s UN Ambassador Mohammad Al-Douri arrived in Damascus Saturday from New York. Al-Douri, the first Iraqi official to concede Hussein’s government was defeated, had said he was leaving the United States because he did not want to represent his country under US-British occupation. |
