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|
“In
any event, we have gotten used to this language from the United
States,” said Dakhlallah.
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DAMASCUS,
September 13, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Syria has
rejected US military force threat as reminiscent of “colonial
eras” and part of Washington’s “successive pressures” on the
Arab country.
“There
is a threat of aggression there, and a style which is reminiscent of
colonial eras and cold and hot wars,” Syrian Information Minister
Mahdi Dakhlallah told Al-Jazeera television Monday, September 12.
Dakhlallah
was responding to accusations and threats by US Ambassador in Iraq
Zalmay Khalilzad earlier Monday over Damascus’ alleged role in Iraq
instability, saying that the military force was an option.
“Syria
has exerted efforts almost beyond its capacity as a small and
developing country to protect the border because Iraq's stability is a
Syrian concern, not just an Iraqi concern. Stability is indivisible
and dangers most often come from two directions,” Dakhlallah said.
“In
any event, we have gotten used to this language from the United
States. It represents a clear escalation in a chain of successive
pressures on Syria.”
Imad
Moustafa, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, called
Khalilzad's allegations “100 percent rubbish.”
He
told The New York Times that Syria had repeatedly invited
American and Iraqi officials to discuss the problem and find
solutions. But, he added, neither country had responded.
“We
have more troops on our border with Iraq than we have ever had
before” as well as “sandbags, barbed wire,” Mostafa said.
"We understand the stakes are high.”
“Patience
Running Out”
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|
“Our
patience is running out with Syria,” said Khalilzad.
|
Khalilzad
said, “our patience is running out with Syria".
“The
United States has ruled out no option, including military force, for
dealing with the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad,”
Khalilzad said during a State Department briefing with reporters, USA
Today reported.
The
US official for the first time publicly named specific cities —
Aleppo, Latakia and Damascus — as training sites for what the US
terms “insurgents”, the US mass-circulation daily said.
“It
simply must close the training camps,” he said. “It should not
allow youngsters misguided by Al-Qaeda, from Saudi Arabia, from Yemen,
from North Africa, to fly into Damascus international airport.”
“It
shouldn't be that hard, if you see young men between the ages of 18
and 28, who are coming without a return ticket, landing in Damascus
airport to control that.”
Khalilzad
further claimed Syria was a bigger threat to Iraq than Iran and more
of a problem than Pakistan had been for Afghanistan. He called Syria
“the No. 1 offender” in the region to “the success of Iraq.”
“No
Proof”
But
Mourhaf Jouejati, a Syrian-American professor of political science and
international affairs at George Washington University, told the paper
the Bush administration “always has these accusations but never
produces any evidence.”
Other
pundits say that the Bush administration is trying to shift attention
from its Iraq limbo and the spiraling US deaths in Iraq.
The
Bush administration has been intensifying pressure on Syria over both
Iraq and Lebanon, where a United Nations-backed panel is investigating
alleged Syrian involvement in the February 14 assassination of former
Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.
Jouejati
said the United States hopes the probe will incriminate Syria and
serve as a basis for UN sanctions.
Chief
UN investigator Detlev Mehlis held talks with Syrian officials in
Damascus Monday as part of his probe into the assassination, Reuters
reported.
Lebanon
charged four pro-Syrian generals with the assassination earlier this
month after Mehlis strongly recommended their arrest.
On
Saturday, September 10, Syria invited to Damascus Mehlis and
reiterated its willingness to cooperate with his investigation.
The
Syrian leader has not confirmed his participation in the UN World
Summit later this month, casting doubt on whether he would attend.
The
visit would have been the first by a Syrian president to New York to
take part in a UN function.
