WHY BUSH IS HELPLESS AGAINST SYRIA
Syria dominates Middle East agenda
Syria continued to dominate the world’s agenda on Tuesday amid a flurry of statements and diplomatic manoeuvrings.
Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon weighed into the war of words demanding that greater pressure be brought upon the country to rid it of Palestinian resistance activists while Iran threatened that any US-military action against Syria would be construed as an attack against Iran.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) meeting with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin in Damascus
Through the escalating wrangle, Syria has struck a consistent note of indignation alleging that hardline “Zionists” had infiltrated the corridors of power in Washington and taken over its Middle East policy.
Israel’s Prime Minister was the harshest on Syria on the day, accusing its president, Bashar al-Asad of being a “dangerous" man, "whose judgment was impaired.”
In an interview with the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Sharon stopped short of calling for military action against Syria insisting that greater diplomatic and economic pressure be brought upon the country to make it fall into line.
The prime minister enumerated a five-point Israeli-wish list and demanded that the international community must ensure that Syria complies with them. His demands included the dismantling of Palestinian resistance organisations such as Hamas within Syrian territory and an end to continued Syrian cooperation with Iran.
Sharon's statements came on a day in which US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, believed to be an avid advocate of a new Damascus front in the so-called war on terror, announced that US forces had shut down an oil pipeline between Iraq and Syria.
In Iran, where the developments are being viewed with increasing alarm, officials reacted by stating that any US-military action against Syria would be seen as a prelude to action against Iran.
Mohsen Rezai, secretary of the Iran’s powerful Expediency Coucil, underlined that any military action against Syria would be unjustified. “If Syria is attacked, Iran should not stay neutral,” he said.
The French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin spoke to the US secretary of state, Colin Powell late on Monday and a senior foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that the talks had covered “the escalating war of words between Washington and Damascus.”
According to the spokesman, the French foreign minister is stated to have told Powell that the “war in Iraq has sparked a feeling of worry and humiliation in the Arab world.”
Caught in the eye of the storm, Syria reacted angrily to the US-accusations that it had weapons of mass destruction, had tested chemical weapons in the last 15 months and was harbouring prominent members of Saddam Hussein’s former government.
In dismissing the US accusations, the Syrian cabinet stated that the “escalating language of threats and accusations by some American officials against Syria are aimed at damaging its steadfastness and influencing its national decisions and national stances.”
Official Syrian radio also lent its voice to the chorus, calling for Arab solidarity to foil what it called Zionist plans to assume full control over the region and rearrange it.
Spain however provided some soothing balm for Syria. Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, despite being an ally of the US in its war against Iraq, said that “Spain will remain a friend of Syria and will not be the target of any military action.” -- Al Jazeera and agencies |
