DAMASCUS, 17 September 2003 — Syria said yesterday it was ready to cooperate with “logical and realistic” demands from the United States, as the US Congress prepared to debate new measures against Damascus, accused of aiding militants fighting Israel and the US presence in Iraq.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara, speaking at a press conference with visiting European Union external relations commissioner Chris Patten, was responding to a new warning by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. On Monday, Powell said Washington needed more “forceful” cooperation from Syria if Damascus wanted good relations with the United States and the new post-Saddam Iraq.
“The American demands are very numerous, but Syria is ready to cooperate if these demands turn out to be logical and realistic,” Shara said. “Syria will be at the head of countries that cooperate with the United States if the (American) demands come within the framework of international legality, in favor of the unity of Iraq and with a view to finding a just solution to the (Arab-Israeli) conflict,” he added.
Shara spoke hours before Congress was to begin debating the proposed Syrian Accountability Act, on the grounds that Damascus had fallen short of the required cooperation since Powell visited there in May. The act could ban US exports to Syria and business investment in that country, downgrade Washington’s diplomatic representation or impose travel restrictions on Syrian diplomats in the United States.
Referring to recent tensions with Washington, Shara said “we have engaged in important, substantial and permanent dialogue with the United States, though there have been interruptions.”
