Lantos demands Damascus to change its policy: The Lebanese people have to decide their fate on their own
Syria-USA, Politics, 8/19/2004

US Congressman Tom Lantos said after his meeting with the Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara in Damascus yesterday that he demanded Syria to change its policy so as to bring a change in the American policy towards it.

He indicated that he was persistent for the departure of the Syrian forces from Lebanon and the Lebanese people themselves to decide their own fate," accusing Damascus of providing Hizbullah party of weapons and of permitting weapons to flow to this party.

Al-Shara had met with Lantos in the presence of the US ambassador in Damascus Margaret Scooby. A spokesman for the US embassy said that the meeting dealt with means of improving Syrian- American relations and other regional and international issues.

Lantos, a democratic member in the " International relations committee" in Congress, described the meeting as "frank, friendly and open." He said " I had asked al-Shara for his country to be in the good side of the 21st century. I also asked him for Syria to stop relations with terrorism and mass destruction weapons ultimately."

He added " being a friend to the great Syrian people, I want to see this great country leaders taking also the rightful decision." He added " alliance to the ( appropriate) side in the comprehensive conflict between the civilized world and terrorism is a matter of actions rather than words." Earlier, Lantos, said "nothing will please me more than being able to push for abrogating Syria's accountability law, because it does not help Syria." He added "for this to take place, the Syrian policy should be changed." He continued " there is no change in the American policy but I do hope a change will be made if Syria takes appropriate steps.."

He also said he " argued the departure of the Syrian forces from Lebanon and the Lebanese people to decide their own face on their own." Lantos accused Damascus of providing Hizbullah by weapons and permitting weapons to flow to the party.

He explained that he urged al-Shara " the Syrian markets to be open and before that the Syrian minds, and this is through ensuring the freedom of expressions." He added "I persisted on ending the imprisonment of politicians like two of my colleagues, the two members in the Syrian parliament jailed since two years," in remarks to the two Syrian parliamentarians Mamoun al-Homsi and Riad Seif.

Lantos considered that Syria will find for itself more friends " at the US Congress " if this is done, noting many times to the Libyan experience in giving up the mass destruction weapons. He considered that Libya got "endless economic, political and cultural relations in the relations with the US and the urban world. " He indicated that Syria " has taken certain steps" towards implementing the American demands, especially the Syria s government efforts to close the Syrian- Iraqi borders in the face of smuggling terrorists and weapons," adding that the 4500 borders guards deployed by Syria on the borders are two far from the number required to close this border." He said what is wanted is a more rapid move. He questioned how an army composed of 200,000 troops has not enough forces to deploy them on the borders.

Lantos also called for sending back to Iraq the Iraqi assets in the Syrian banks. He expressed happiness over the results of the visit held by the Iraqi Interim prime minister Eyad Allawi to Damascus, considering that Syria has a great interests in establishing a stable Iraq. He also expressed the US readiness to finalize a peace agreement between Syria and each of Lebanon and Israel, the same it had done between each of Egypt and Jordan on the one hand and Israel on the other.

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