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State department criticizes syria { October 6 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3232280,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3232280,00.html
State Dept. Criticizes Syria After Attack
Monday October 6, 2003 8:31 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is calling for restraint in the Middle East following Israel's strike against Syria while labeling the Damascus government a supporter of terrorists.
The administration did not criticize Israel for Sunday's attack, which Israel said was directed at a training camp for Islamic Jihad, the group claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing that caused heavy casualties Saturday in Israel.
But the State Department declared that Syria ``must cease harboring terrorists and make a clean break from those responsible for planning and directing terrorist action from Syrian soil.''
Arab leaders warned that a ``circle of violence'' could surround the region after Israeli warplanes attacked deep inside Syria for the first time in three decades.
The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss Syria's complaint to Secretary-General Kofi Annan about the strikes near Damascus.
President Bush telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to offer condolences and condemnation for the Haifa bombing that killed 19 people.
The two agreed on a need to continue fighting terrorism and ``on the need to avoid heightened tension in the region at this time,'' said Ken Lesius, a White House spokesman.
Administration officials said Israel had not informed Washington in advance of its retaliatory strike nor indicated whether it intended any move against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to remove him from his West Bank headquarters.
The State Department has listed Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism since the list's inception some 30 years ago. It contends Syria offers sanctuary and political protection to groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad - all considered terror organizations by the United States.
The United States is urging Israel and Syria ``to avoid actions that could lead to an escalation of tension,'' said Joann Moore, a State Department spokeswoman.
A deep divide over the war in Iraq, which borders Syria, exacerbated already frayed U.S.-Syrian relations. In March, as U.S. troops moved toward Baghdad, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld complained that military gear was being smuggled to Iraqi forces through Syria and threatened to ``hold the Syrian government accountable.'' Syria denied the allegation.
In mid-September, John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control, told Congress that Syria was allowing militants to cross its border into Iraq to kill Americans and was seeking aggressively to acquire and develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Bolton said the administration was trying to change Syria's behavior through diplomatic means, and he urged lawmakers to let the effort run its course before passing trade restrictions or exacting other punishment.
Syrian President Bashar Assad, after meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell in May in Damascus, indicated his government had closed certain Palestinian offices.
Last weekend, however, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said the United States is ``not working as constructively with the Syrians as we need to. ... There is much more that Syria needs to do, and that message is being communicated to them.''
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
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