Washington accuses Damascus of scaring Lebanon
Syria-USA, Politics, 6/11/2005

Washington has accused Damascus of creating an atmosphere of horror in Lebanon and of interfering in its internal affairs and of not withdrawing members of its intelligence.

The U.S. government is deeply concerned about Syria's "intimidation and interference in Lebanon," according to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

"We've seen the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri. We've seen the assassination of a prominent journalist who - I think by common reporting in many news reports - was well known for his anti-Syrian, pro-Lebanon views. So while those investigations are still ongoing É we have great concerns about the continuing presence of Syrian intelligence operatives inside Lebanon," McCormack said June 10

The spokesman for the White House Scott McClellan said on Friday "that Syria has to abide completely by UN Security Council resolution 1559, which means full withdrawal of its intelligence from Lebanon:, urging the international community to call on it to stop intervention.

However, McClellan refused to answer a question on whether there are lists prepared by Damascus in the names of Lebanese politicians to liquidate them, saying that he does not comment on intelligence issues.

Meantime, The Washington Post and New York Times on Friday quoted what they described as high ranking American official as saying that "confidential" information derived from various Lebanese sources indicate that "black lists" were drawn to assassinate Lebanese politicians, considering that it might be useful to disclose that to the public opinion to deter the Syrians from such acts.

The White House statement was followed by a similar one for the Department Of State to continue pressuring the Syrians so as to be "transparent over what they are doing in Lebanon." Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice continued that Washington has doubts on Damascus's withdrawal of its intelligence members complying with a statement made the same day by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan in which he talked on information expecting that these Syrian elements are still existed in Lebanon.

Annan did not rule out re-sending UN investigation teams to verify the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1559, which confirmed in its report the withdrawal of the Syrian intelligence.

Previous Stories:
  Washington freezes assets of a Syrian company accused of providing weapons to Saddam Hussein's regime   (6/10/2005)
  Baath congress for dialogue with US, Europe   (6/9/2005)
  US senator meets Annan, accuses Syria of killing Hariri   (6/8/2005)

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