- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stepped up pressure
on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and reiterated that Washington will work
with Europe to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
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- The comments, made at different events in London Tuesday,
highlight the growing attention the United States is paying the two nations.
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- Washington wants Syria to withdraw its troops and security
personnel from Lebanon in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559.
Syria, which has some 14,000 troops in Lebanon, is the main power broker
in that country. The intensified calls for Syria's withdrawal from the
country began following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri, an opponent of the Syrian presence in the country. Since
then, there have been almost daily protests against the Syrian troops and
intelligence activities in Lebanon leading to the resignation Monday of
the country's pro-Syrian government.
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- Washington also accuses Syria of not doing enough to
halt the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and had little to say about
the transfer over the weekend by Damascus of a half-brother of deposed
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to Iraqi custody.
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- In an interview with Arab journalists in London Tuesday,
Rice had harsh words for Syria, accusing it of destabilizing the Middle
East from Lebanon to Iraq and Palestinian territories.
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- "Syria is an impediment to change in the Middle
East and it's increasingly being exposed as an impediment to change in
the Middle East," she said. "The Syrian regime is out of step
with what is going on in the rest of the region. ... Regimes need to change
in accordance with a Middle East that is changing very rapidly."
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- In a separate interview, this time to ABC News, Rice
accused the Syrian government of supporting Palestinian militant groups
that were involved in last Friday's suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv. That
blast threatened to derail an Israeli-Palestinian peace process that has
resumed since the death late last year of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
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- "There is evidence that the Palestinian Islamic
Jihad headquartered in Syria was, in fact, involved with the planning of
those attacks in Tel Aviv," she said. "And so the Syrians have
a lot to answer for. We don't know the degree of Syrian involvement; but
certainly, what is happening on the territory of Syria, in and around Damascus,
is clearly threatening to the different kind of Middle East that we're
trying to build."
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- The comments came after a daylong conference on the Palestinian
Authority, which was organized by the British government. On the sidelines
of the meeting, Rice met with Michel Barnier, her French counterpart, who
has become the closest U.S. ally on the Lebanese issue, to issue a joint
statement that called on the Syrians to fully withdraw.
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- The secretary also used the conference to highlight another
major U.S. concern -- Iran's nuclear program. This came after comments
Monday that Washington will play a more active role with Britain, France
and Germany -- the so-called European Union 3 who are negotiating with
Iran -- on the issue.
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- Rice said President Bush felt diplomacy was still the
best way to persuade Tehran to renounce its nuclear program. Washington
says the program is being used to secretly make nuclear weapons but the
Islamic republic insist the program is for peaceful purposes only.
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- "He believes that the diplomatic track can succeed,
particularly because when we were here just a few days ago, when we were
in Europe a few days ago, the president had very good discussions with
his European counterparts that suggested that there is a united front that
Iran should not have a nuclear weapon," she told the Arab reporters.
"And we are supportive of what the Europeans are trying to do to get
Iran to live up to its international obligations."
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- She also reiterated the U.S. position that should no
progress be made in the talks, Washington will press for the issue to be
moved to the U.N. Security Council.
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- On Monday, however, the White House signaled it might
be softening its stance against offering financial incentives to Iran to
abandon its nuclear ambitions.
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- White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was considering
ideas presented to him in Europe and added Iran was over the past few months
being more cooperative and providing more information on its nuclear programs
to the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency.
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- Among the possible incentives could be support for Iran's
entry into the World Trade Organization. Washington had previously been
against any sops to Iran, but has since said it is considering European
suggestions.
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- Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
- All rights reserved.
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