Ma'ariv: Powell warns Damascus from isolation
Syria-USA, Politics, 8/2/2003

The US Secretary Of State Colin Powell has accused Syria of continuing to sponsor terrorist activity and warned it of regional isolation.

He stressed that Washington will not do anything that improves the relation now with Syria, considering that the steps taken by Syria against the Palestinian organizations in Damascus and to control the Hizbullah party " is not enough."

He also considered that Damascus's relations with Baghdad has the venue only from Washington. In an interview with the Israeli daily Ma'ariv, Powell repeated the Bush administration's view that Syria has not done enough to rein in terrorist organizations operating out of Damascus.

"[T]here are opportunity costs in this for Syria if they don't change their policies," Powell said. Despite potential areas of mutually beneficial cooperation between the United States and Syria, he said, "we are not going to do anything that would improve the relationship right now."

"They need, frankly, a better relationship with us to, in turn, have a better relationship with Iraq, which is one of Syria's largest trading partners, concessional oil and commerce. It's not happening. And I have a hunch that the current Iraqi Provisional Authority and future Iraqi Government would view with certain negative attitude a Syria that does not cooperate in building a better Iraq and also does not cooperate in assisting with the Middle East peace process," said Powell.

Powell expressed his conviction that the Syrians will become isolated increasingly with the successive peace moves without them, and with Iraq's transformation into a democratic country which does not to work with countries that continue to sponsor terrorist activity, in remarks to Syria.

Powell, however, had visited Damascus in May and asked President Bashar al-Assad to close the offices of the Palestinian organizations and end their media activity and stop support for the "Hizbullah party."

Previous Stories:
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