al-Jazeera: Damascus rejects Washington's threats; considers it part of the pressure

Syria has rejected the new American accusations of helping "extremists" to sneak into Iraq via its borders, considering that the American threats and resorting to power is part of the pressure campaign against it.

The Syrian minister of information Mahdi Dakhlalla described in exclusive statements to al-Jazeera satellite TV the accusations stated by the American ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad as "regrettable words." He said that the "ambassador of a great state should be more strict (in his words as it relates) to international relations traditions."

Dakhlallakh said that this inclination "reminds of the colonialist period and the cold and hot wars," adding that Syria exerted all efforts "even beyond its capacity" in order to protect the borders with Iraq, considering that Iraq's stability is a Syrian concern and not only an Iraqi one.

Khalilzad said earlier on Monday in a press conference that the US patience towards Syria started to run out, adding that all the US has many options including the "military option."

Khalilzad said in a press conference at the US Department Of State in Washington that Syria should decide the price it is willing to pay so as to make it difficult for the US to achieve a success in Iraq, stressing that Damascus does not have much time to make its decision on this matter.