Campaign in the Congress for 'Syrian accountability' law; Powell: time for Damascus to rethink its policies
Syria-USA, Politics, 4/19/2003

The US Secretary Of State Colin Powell said he intends to make a nearby tour to the Middle east that will cover Syria in order to explain to President Bashar al-Assad that there are new changes following the collapse of the Iraqi regime and to discuss points of differences concerning Syria's military support for Iraq, and Damascus's support for organizations considered by Washington as "terrorists" like Hizbullah, as well as Washington's concern over the Syrian mass destruction weapons especially the chemical weapons.

These statements came while efforts were renewed in the US Congress to propose a new law on "Syrian accountability" to force Syria "to end its occupation of Lebanon." Powell added in an interview with the BBC "we want to explain strongly to the Syrians that this is the appropriate time to reconsider your policies." Though Powell said he does not have certain plans or a schedule for his tour which will also include discussions of the Road Map to revive the Palestinian- Israeli negotiations, however, American and Arab diplomatic sources in Washington stressed that the tour will be in the first week of May and will include meetings with the leaderships in Syria, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, especially the Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas ( Abu Mazin) as Washington expects Abbas to be a prime minister before the beginning of the tour.

However, Powell said that the situation in Syria is not identical to that in Iraq due to the fact that there are diplomatic relations and continued contacts. He stressed "there are no military plans in the office of any body to attack Syria," noting that the US President has a box filled with choices and various means to dealing with countries like Syria, Iran, Northern Korea and Iraq. He said " he (the president) does not use the same means every time and studies every situation separately."

Simultaneously, American Democratic and Republican congressman decided to launch a new campaign in the US Congress to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria.

The draft law which is submitted by the Eliot Angle (Congressmand from New York) last week called for imposing immediate sanctions on Syria. The text of the draft law set a framework to make efforts "to force Syria to stop its occupation of Lebanon, its support for terrorism and giving up the mass destruction weapons." The text had the support of congressman from the two parties at the House and Senate, both dominated by Republicans.

The text which might be adopted after the congress assume work by the end of April, bans any American exports or investments to Syria, with the exception of foodstuffs and medicines. It also calls for freezing the Syrian assets in the USA.

The New York times quoted officials at the Congress that the Bush administration might show reservations on the draft law.

Previous Stories:
  Powell intends to visit Syria   (4/18/2003)
  Damascus: US threats are cover to American problems in Iraq   (4/17/2003)
  Syrian Cabinet rejects US accusations as threats fueled by Israel   (4/16/2003)

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