DAMASCUS, 4 February 2005 — Syria called yesterday for dialogue with the United States, rejecting as “futile” the mounting pressure on the regime from the administration of President George W. Bush.
In his State of the Union policy speech largely focused on the Middle East, Bush admonished Syria, saying it should end its support for “terror” and open the door to freedom.
But Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah told AFP: “American officials need to be convinced that the pressure on Syria is futile and that a strengthening of dialogue is the only path.”
Washington has slapped sanctions on Damascus, accusing it of sponsoring international terrorism and turning a blind eye to anti-American insurgents crossing the border into neighboring Iraq.
Dakhlallah, whose government has about 14,000 troops stationed in neighboring Lebanon, lashed out at the Americans’ use of their military might to bring about change in the region.
“It is impossible to export freedom with tanks, planes and cannons,” he said. “Freedom also means an end to occupation, the building of a world order based on democratic relations between nations.”
A prominent Syrian analyst also criticized Bush’s address, saying it comes in the context of “continuous pressures” on Syria.
Ahmed Haj Ali, a former adviser to Syria’s information minister, said that the address was part of “the continuous pressures on Syria to submit further concessions in all issues of discussions.”
He expressed surprise that the US continued with accusations against Syria despite the “numerous positive developments and all activities which proved that Syria is interested in combating terrorism.”
Haj Ali said Syria insisted on continuing its dialogue with Washington “as Syria is keen to search for all that could bring about peace and stability to the region”.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Writers’ Union said it would “heavily punish” any of its 500 members if they appear on the US-funded Al-Hurra satellite station, the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat reported yesterday.
The decision was taken during the union’s annual meeting Monday after Syrian poet Shawqi Baghdadi’s participation in one of Al-Hurra programs became an issue of controversy among the union members.
Al-Hurra, which means “the free one” in Arabic, has earned little praise from its Arabic target audience since the channel started broadcasting to the Middle East in February 2004 as part of the US effort to win hearts and minds in the area.
“Al-Hurra was established as public diplomacy for the United States to brighten its image which it claims it was deformed after the Iraqi invasion,” Ali Uqla, head of the Union told Al-Hayat.
Any involvement in the channel would help it succeed, he added.
Uqla said the union’s decision was also in protest of the US State Department decision to put the Lebanese Hezbollah TV station Al-Manar on their illegal terrorist watch list.
