DAMASCUS, 4 August 2003 — Syria yesterday rebuffed renewed US threats, saying the US administration is merely echoing false Israeli claims against certain Arab countries. US Secretary of State Colin Powell recently warned Syria of regional isolation and exclusion from the Iraqi market if it did not meet US demands to crack down on militant groups.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv, which was released by the State Department on Friday, Powell said Syria could not yet expect better relations and cooperation with Washington.
“What we are not going to do is we are not going to do anything that would improve the relationship right now. There are things we would like to do with Syria and there are other areas of cooperation that might be open to them,” he said.
“They (the Syrians) will be increasingly isolated as the peace process moves forward without them, and as Iraq becomes a democratic state that does not wish to work with states that continue to sponsor terrorist activity,” Powell added.
Syria’s Al-Thawra government newspaper responded that it is not new for the US to direct accusations against Mideast states following the visit of a high-level Israeli official, referring to a recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Washington.
It added that the US seems to echo false Israeli claims against some countries, the main goal of which are to deliberately harm Arab-US relations and to stymie any political and security overtures in the troubled region. Al-Thawra argued that the US administration regards the region through a “deformed” Israeli perspective.
Powell visited Damascus in May and asked Syrian President Bashar Assad to close down the offices of Palestinian militant groups, end their media operations and stop logistical support to the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance group. Powell said Syria had taken some steps but added: “We made it clear to them that this isn’t enough.”
Bashar met yesterday with the European Union’s new envoy to the Middle East for talks on postwar Iraq and peace process in the region, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported.
SANA quoted Bashar as telling Marc Otte he hoped Europe would play an active role in peace talks in order to bring about a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
The Belgian diplomat, who is a senior adviser to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, recently replaced the Spaniard Miguel Angel Moratinos as the bloc’s new envoy to the Middle East.
Otte was quoted by SANA as saying the EU was keep to cooperate with Syria in the Middle East peace process and reach a Syrian-European partnership that would be of benefit to both sides. Otte is on a regional tour that included Lebanon and will take him to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The head of the Arab League discussed yesterday with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara the latest developments in the Arab world and Iraq, telling reporters afterward that the region is currently passing through a very confused stage.
Secretary-General Amr Moussa told reporters here following the meeting that the aim of the visit is to discuss the problems in the Arab world and ways of solving them.
On the issue of sending Arab forces to Iraq, Moussa said this subject would be discussed by the League during its next meeting. On Tuesday, an Arab League follow-up committee will meet to discuss the future of Iraq and its representation in the League.
Meanwhile, Syria’s independent satirical weekly Addomari was banned for breaking the law by not publishing for more than three months, the Information Ministry said yesterday.
“The prime minister issued a decree withdrawing Addomari’s authorization for breaking the law by not publishing for more than three months,” it said in a statement published in the government daily Tishrin.
Ali Farzat, owner and chief editor of Addomari, had been warned twice that his publication license would be withdrawn in accordance with the law, if it did not appear, the ministry said.
The paper’s lawyer, Anwar Bunni, said the authorities banned Addomari last week for running articles critical of the state. It has not appeared since April 7 because the ministry insisted it be submitted to monitoring before publication.
