 |
|
Bashar
has acknowledged that contacts had resumed between
Damascus
and
Washington
via Arab intermediaries.
|
CAIRO,
October 15, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Under fire at home over the
spiraling death toll in Iraq and security deterioration in the
war-ravaged country, the Bush administration is offering Syria normal
ties in swap for cooperation over Iraq, Lebanon and Mideast peace, a
British newspaper reported on Saturday, October 15.
Citing
senior US and Arab officials, The Times said the deal hinges on
full cooperation with the UN inquiry into the assassination of former
Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri and an end to alleged recruiting,
funding and training of volunteers to join the resistance in Iraq.
The
Bush Administration also has a long-standing demand that
Syria
cease its support for
Lebanon
’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian resistance groups Hamas and Islamic
Jihad, added the daily.
In
return,
Washington
would establish full and friendly relations with the country, the
newspaper reported.
The
US
has been intensifying pressure on
Syria
over both
Iraq
and
Lebanon
, where chief UN investigator Detlev Mehlis is investigating the
February 14 assassination of Hariri.
President
Bashar Al-Assad expressed confidence on Wednesday that the UN probe
would acquit
Syria
, but vowed any national implicated would be severely punished as a
traitor.
Speaking
in an interview with CNN, he hit back at charges that
Syria
was assisting fighters in
Iraq
, saying the allegations were "completely wrong".
"No
one can control his border completely," he admitted.
Third
Party
The
Times quoted an unnamed source close to Assad's regime confirming
the offer had been presented by a third party in the past ten days.
"Assad
is facing a tough time ahead and he has very few friends left," a
senior Arab diplomat told the daily.
"He
is desperately looking for a way out of this predicament."
The
Syrian leader said this week that contacts had resumed between
Damascus
and
Washington
via Arab intermediaries, thought to be
Egypt
and
Saudi Arabia
.
"There
has been an attempt to resume co-operation, basically through
mediation, by some Arab and European states," he told CNN.
The
Syrian source told the British daily the Syrians had signaled they
were willing to co-operate.
However,
the daily quoted a Syrian source close to the regime as saying the
president would turn it down.
It
also quoted British officials as doubting whether Assad would concur
because the deal would be regarded as too much of a climb-down.
Clashes
A
series of clashes took place last year between American and Syrian
troops, including a prolonged firefight this summer that killed
several Syrians, The New York Times reported Saturday.
It
said the clashes raised the prospect that cross-border military
operations may become a dangerous new front in the
Iraq
war.
American
media reported last week that the military was considering plans to
conduct special operations inside
Syria
, using small covert teams for cross-border intelligence gathering.
US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice successfully opposed the idea at a
meeting of senior American officials held on October 1, Newsweek
reported, citing unnamed
US
government sources.
Rice
reportedly argued that diplomatic isolation was a more effective
approach.
