Syria refuses an American request concerning Iraq

The United Arab Emirates UAE daily al-Khaleij issued on Sunday said that a Syrian source stressed to it that Syria had refused a request proposed by the American administration calling on Damascus to join what is called " smart sanctions" Washington had decided to impose on Iraq.

The source explained that this position was expressed through contacts between the US administration and the Syrian leadership.

The source added that the Syrian side told the American side on the futility of imposing any new sanctions on Iraq, noting that the official Syria view points conveyed to the US administration stressed that the Iraqi people are the ones who pay the price for the sanctions and that there are many countries which refuse to abide by the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UN, foremost being is Israel and despite of that the International community did not imposed any sanctions on it.

On the American request, the source added that the US wants Syria to close its land borders with Iraq and to stop pumping the Iraqi oil through the oil pipeline which passes through the Syrian territories for Damascus to obtain certain political and economic aids from the US.

These circles did not rule out that the US pressure campaign against Syria to be increased during this phase because of Syria's position in supporting Iraq.

The paper also said that well-informed Syrian sources told it that Syrian- Iraqi relations will witness during the coming weeks important developments that might result in resuming diplomatic relations between the two states.