WASHINGTON, 25 March 2005 — Syria’s ambassador to Washington said yesterday he hoped the United States and Israel would follow his country’s example and withdraw from Iraq and Palestinian areas, just as Syria was leaving Lebanon.
“We will withdraw (from Lebanon) as soon as possible, the sooner the better. And we are not talking of two or three months. We will do this very, very quickly,” Syria’s envoy Imad Moustapha said in a speech at Georgetown University.
“I hope this will inspire other countries in the Middle East to withdraw their occupations from Iraq and from Palestine and from Syria itself,” he said.
“President Bush has many times spoken about making Iraq a model that will inspire the whole Arab world. ... I think the Arab people will love to see this (Syrian) model followed by the Americans and the Israelis.”
Moustapha said a Lebanese-Syrian committee meeting in early April would set the exact timetable for the final withdrawal.
He also took a dig at the United States’ detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Despite his barbs, the ambassador also made clear his country was eager to improve its relations with the United States and hoped Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon would be a step in that direction.
