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"The
campaign (against Syria) could be aimed at serving Israeli
interests," charged Sharaa
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CAIRO,
April 17 (IslamONline.net & News Agencies) - Syrian Foreign Minister
Farouq al-Sharaa underlined Thursday, April 17, that his country will
not allow inspections of its territory to refute U.S. accusations of
possessing chemical weapons.
Emerging
from talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, he told reporters that
Damascus "will only contribute, with its (Arab) brothers and the
countries of the whole world to transforming the Middle East into a
region devoid of all weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological
or nuclear."
The
Syrian official was responding to questions on whether his country would
be ready to accept weapons inspections like Iraq, which were forced to
an end days before the unleashing of the U.S.-led war on Iraq on March
20.
After
a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, Sharaa said
"we will not authorize anything illegal ... we respect the U.N.
charter and will not abandon our independence or dignity."
Imad
Moustapha, the number two in the Syrian embassy in the United States,
said on April 13 that Syrian government will not only accept the most
rigid inspection regime, it will welcome it heartily.
Syria
submitted Wednesday, April 16, a draft
resolution to the U.N. Security Council proposing to render the Middle East a zone
free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Syrian
chief delegate to the U.N. Ambassador Mikahil Wehbe averred that Israel
was the only state in the region not to have signed international
treaties on banned weapons.
Two
days ago, Washington accused Syria of conducting a chemical weapons test
during the past 15 months.
Joining
the anti-Syria chorus U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell threatened on
April 14 of possible economic and diplomatic sanctions
against Damascus.
A
day later he tried to dispel mounting Arab and international fears of a
new phase of the U.S.-led aggression on Iraq and asserted that
Washington had no intention of waging war
on Syria or any other country in the Middle East.
A
State Department official in Washington said Wednesday, April 16, that
Powell may travel to Syria to defuse the tension.
While
rejecting the accusations, Shara adopted a moderate tone and repeated
Syria's desire for dialogue with the U.S., saying Powell
was "welcome" to visit Damascus.
"I
think dialogue between the two countries is of common interest,"
said the Syrian official.
The
United States has also accused Damascus of smuggling war materiel into
Iraq and giving refuge to members of Iraq's ousted regime, charges which
Syria categorically repudiated.
"Relations
between Baghdad and Damascus have not been good for many years,"
Sharaa recalled.
Syria
was the only major Arab country to side with Iran in its eight-year war
with Iraq.
Sharaa
said the U.S. accusations were a bid to divert attention from "the
large difficulties and problems facing U.S. forces in Iraq."
Serving
Israeli Interests
"The
campaign (against Syria) could be aimed at serving Israeli
interests," he said, adding that some "fundamentalists in
Washington say that Iraq could be a starting point to modify the
geography of the region."
The
foreign minister rejected U.S. demands for Damascus to stop lending
support to the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
"The
Israeli occupation must end, then there will be no need to maintain the
resistance organizations," averred the Syrian foreign minister.
Asked
whether the U.S. would veto the new draft resolution on freeing the
Mideast of all weapons of mass destruction, Sharaa said, "it is
foreseeable. We don't exclude use of the veto, given the strategic ties
between Israel and the United States."
