- ROME (Reuters) - The United
States on Wednesday warned countries it has accused of pursuing weapons
of mass destruction, including Iran, Syria and North Korea, to "draw
the appropriate lesson from Iraq."
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- John R. Bolton, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms
control and international security, also appealed to Syria and other countries
in the Middle East to open themselves up to "new possibilities"
for peace in the region.
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- "With respect to the issue of the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction in the post-conflict period, we are hopeful
that a number of regimes will draw the appropriate lesson from Iraq that
the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction is not in their national interest,"
Bolton told a news conference.
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- Bolton, in Rome for meetings with Vatican and Italian
officials, specifically mentioned Syria, North Korea and Iran in his comments
in response to a question about what the postwar period would hold.
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- Iran has said its nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes,
while Syria has denied U.S. charges of shipping military supplies to Baghdad
and lawmakers have accused the United States of double standards in its
support for Israel.
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- North Korea has sparked an international crisis with
a suspected revival of its nuclear arms program.
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- Bolton was asked about a U.S. poll that showed that half
of the United States population supports U.S. military action against Iran
if it continues to move toward nuclear weapons development and 42 percent
of those surveyed said the United States should take action against Syria
if it was helping Iraq.
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- "I think Syria is a good case where I hope that
they will conclude that the chemicals weapons program and the biological
weapons program that they have been pursuing are things that they should
give up," said Bolton, a leading U.S. hawk.
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- "It is a wonderful opportunity for Syria to foreswear
the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and, as with other governments
in the region, to see if there are not new possibilities in the Middle
East peace process," he said.
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- Bolton said the United States' priority was "the
peaceful elimination of these programs" and that this was the guiding
principle in Washington's attitude toward North Korea and Iran.
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- Bolton met earlier with Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran,
the Vatican Foreign Minister, to discuss humanitarian efforts after the
conflict and the Middle East situation in general.
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- Pope John Paul spearheaded the Vatican's efforts to avert
war in Iraq, sending top envoys to both President George Bush and Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein.
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- "The issue now is the future, turning to our common
interests in providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq, assisting
in the reconstruction of the country, the rapid formation of a new government
that would be representative of all the Iraqi people," Bolton said.
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- He also said he outlined to Vatican officials what he
called "President Bush's determination" to move ahead with the
Middle East peace process.
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- Bush, after meeting with British Prime Minister Tony
Blair on Tuesday, promised to turn his focus to settling the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict once Saddam was removed from power.
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