Rice's meeting Syrian FM over Iraq issue
Syria-USA, Politics, 5/7/2007

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem last week on the margins of the Iraq Neighbors' Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in the highest-level contact between US and Syrian officials since Washington recalled its ambassador from Damascus in February 2005.

Rice characterized the meeting of May 3rd as professional and businesslike. She said the half-hour discussion between her and her Syrian counterpart focused on Iraq, particularly the issue of foreign fighters crossing the Syrian border and contributing to instability in Iraq. She said it is in Syria's interest to stop the flow of foreign fighters because they ultimately could become a source of instability inside Syria as well.

"The Syrians clearly say that they believe that stability in Iraq is in their interest," she told reporters after the meeting, "but actions will speak louder than words."

Rice said, "I have seen some reports that they may be trying to take a little bit better control of this. But I think we have to wait and see whether the trend is indeed a trend."

She said the United States does not want a difficult relationship with Syria, but needs a basis -- such as concrete steps in helping re-establish stability in Iraq -- for building a better relationship.

Recently, the White House condemned a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Syria to meet with officials there.

Washington recalled its ambassador from Damascus in protest over suspected Syrian involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic al-Hariri. The United States repeatedly has stated that its lack of high-level diplomatic contacts with Damascus is a result of Syria's refusal to cooperate on matters of interest to Washington in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories.

The US Department Of State Spokesman Sean McCormack today was asked about an interview by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with NBC in which he said that the US is not doing enough inside Iraq to stop the flow of foreign fighters, and it's impossible for him to seal the entire border of Syria and Iraq, so he doesn't know who's crossing and doesn't know who's coming in all of the time, and that the US has provided no evidence and only allegations of the flow of foreign fighters coming in, and that Syria has no interest in supporting the insurgency in Iraq because it would only cause chaos for his country.

McCormack said "we wouldn't really have to police the border if there weren't an inflow of foreign fighters coming in through Syria and I would point out that they don't just fly into -- fly in with helicopters to the border region and then cross over; they fly in through Damascus Airport, then travel out to the border region and across into Iraq. And the Syrian authorities themselves have previously actually clamped down on the flow of those individuals traveling in from outside of Syria headed in towards Iraq via Damascus Airport, so they know well how to do this."

He added "Secretary Rice had a meeting on the margins of the Iraq International Compact meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh just several days ago. This was -- it was a professional, business-like meeting in which the Secretary encouraged the Syrian Government to do what it can to enhance its ability in Iraq. She made the point that that is in Iraq's interest and Syria's interest as well."

McCormack said "It's important to note that very oftentimes, when you have a country that serves as a transit point for jihadists, that oftentimes, those jihadists either don't go back to their original destination or they decide that they like that transit point better than their final destination and that's a -- that would be a negative thing for Syria's long-term stability. So it's in Syria's interest to take care of this problem and to address it and we'll see if they do. As I said, it is in their interest and we'll see if they take this opportunity to follow through, with actions, their words when they say that they have an interest in a secure, stable Iraq."

McCormack acknowledged that "our Multinational Force colleagues in Baghdad, that they have noticed some improvements along the border. We would hope that that would continue and that you actually see a trend in the Syrian Government acting to control -- better control that border. Of course, the Iraqi forces are going to need to do what they can to help control their own border, so there are two sides to this, but you don't have a problem to begin with if there isn't that flow of foreign extremists coming in via Syria."

Previous Stories:
  US House Speaker trip to Syria criticized by White House   (4/2/2007)
  Syria, United States exchange views on Iraqi refugees   (3/13/2007)
  Iraq for best relations with Syria, Iran, US   (1/13/2007)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search