Al-Jazeera: Western source denies deal with Damascus over voting for recent UN resolution

A western diplomatic source in Damascus denied the US to have had finalized any deal with Syria for her voting on the UN Security Council recent resolution concerning Iraq.

The source which asked to be anonymous said in a statement quoted by the Saudi daily al-Jazeera yesterday that the Syrian vote was expected following the political contacts and the details given to Damascus by more than one western capital.

The source explained that the Syrian reservations was pertinent to two basic matters. The first relates on not using force spontaneously against Iraq, with the need to return back to the UN security council before any military action. In this regard France and Russia gave assurances to Syria that the military action will be under consultation and that Moscow and Paris will not permit any military action unless there will be clear legal justifications. The source added that the second Syrian reservation is that there is no clear text in the resolution on lifting the sanctions imposed on Iraq following the end of the inspection operations. According to the source, France promised to raised this matter immediately after the end of the inspection operations.