Syria asks Powell to give interest to the peace process
Syria-USA, Politics, 2/23/2001

Syria is intending to stress to the US secretary of state Colen Powell the importance of concentrating the American efforts of establishing peace in the Middle East instead of limiting these efforts to Iraq over which Syria said it honors UN resolutions concerning it but, on the other hand, refuses the continued sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people.

The rapparteur of the national security committee at the Syrian people's Assembly (PA) ( Parliament) Yasser Nahlawi announced that the " the US administration has knocked the door of the Middle East and the Arab region the way does the American cowboy and directed a blow to the Iraqi people without any pre- warning." Powell is expected to arrive in Damascus on Monday where he will meet with President Bashar al-Assad.

Nahlawi added " we expect the new US administration to be more neutral. What the region is witnessing of joint maneuvers between the US and Israel over 'Patriot' missiles in Negev desert leave more than exclamation and question marks in the Arab and Syrian citizens." The American statements concerning Powell's tour which put the Iraqi file on top of Washington's priorities increase the Syrian fears. And this was expressed in a statement for the Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara who said on Tuesday:" Anyway we want this story ( the air strikes against Baghdad) to be a passing by incident and that the US administration will concentrate on serious and effective participation in solving problems of the region." Nahlawi added that Israel is the essence of the problem and the source of tension in the region and that Israel is the only aggression case in the area as Iraq had withdrawn from Kuwait while Israeli continues its aggression through its occupation of the Arab land and oppressive practices against the palestinian people.

Syrian vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam noted that "the continued US concentration on Iraq will result in continued division of the Arabs, at a time when they ( the Arabs) are need of unifying their ranks regarding the stubborn Israeli position in electing Ariel Sharon as a prime minister."

Meantime, news reports in Damascus said that the Syrian officials " will tell Powell about their country's commitment to UN resolutions, but will, on the other hand declare their rejection to the continued sanctions against the Iraqi people.

The sources added they do not expect Powell's visit to conclude results to the level of discussing the Arab- Israeli peace process, noting that " the US administration knows all details relating to the Arab- Israeli peace negotiations." Powell said he will hold talks with officials in the region on the conditions in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Jordanian minister of information Taleb al-Refaa said in his weekly press conference that Powell's visit to the region is an ordinary one after he has new post in the new American administration.

However, the Jordanian opposition parties had warned the government against Powell's visit to Jordan and the region and considered this visit as part of the conspiracy against Iraq.

Al-Refaa explained that the Jordanian official will listen to Powell and get to know about the way of thinking of the new US administration.

Replying to a question on the smart sanctions the US administration thinks of imposing on Iraq, al-Refaa added that Amman was not informed about any special information to this effect. He ruled out that the America- British raids against Iraq last Friday would have meant sending a message to all Arab states who have started to establish trade relations with Israel.

Al-Refaa stressed that the messages arrive directly and there is no need to make raids in order to reach these messages. He added that Jordan does not violate UN resolutions concerning Iraq, though it calls for changing them.

Previous Stories:
  Powel to visit Damascus on February 26   (2/15/2001)
  US Secretary of state to visit Syria   (2/10/2001)
  Syrian source denies Ross statements   (1/29/2001)

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