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| News Analysis: Syria stood firm under US, Israeli pressures |
| | www.chinaview.cn 2004-09-05 21:20:04 |
by Jia Xiaohua,
Gu Kang
DAMASCUS, Sept. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria stood firm
under a new round of pressures from the United States and Israel, seeking to
strengthen solidarity with the Arab countries while brushing aside Israeli
military threats.
The United States, which accused Syria of
exerting too much influence over extending the incumbent Lebanese President
Emile Lahoud's six-year term, circulated a draft resolution to other UN Security
Council members on Wednesday, demanding respect for Lebanon's sovereignty and a
withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon.
Despite strong
objections from Syria and Lebanon, the United Nations Security Council on
Thursday narrowly voted in favor of the US-proposed
resolution.
Meanwhile, senior Israeli officials also sent
strong warnings to Syria after a double suicide bombing attack last Tuesday in
its southern city of Beersheva, which killed 16 people.
Israel threatened to launch military attacks against targets in Syria as it
believed Damascus was involved in the blasts.
Syrian
Minister of Information Ahmad al-Hassan told Xinhua on Saturday that Syria's
first choice, under the dual pressures, was to strengthen its solidarity with
other Arab and friendly countries.
Syria would deepen its
ties with Beirut along "the path of more cooperation, coordination and
congruity", Hassan added, in an obvious defiance of the
resolution.
On Saturday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
received respectively Lebanese Army Chief Michael Sulaiman and Deputy Prime
Minister Isam Fares, and discussed bilateral relations and other issues of
common concern.
Assad also made a telephone call to his
Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, exchanging views on the situations his
country faces.
Syria's efforts seemed to have paid off, as
Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and
visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday separately expressed
their disapproval to the new UN resolution.
Moussa,
currently on a tour to Italy, said in an interview with Egypt's "Sound of Arabs"
radio station that the adoption of the resolution was unjustified because the
Lebanese presidential election constitutes no threats to regional security and
stability.
Gheit told reporters in a joint press conference
with Lavrov that Egypt believes the Security Council should not handle the issue
in the first place.
Lavrov, for his part, said Lebanon was
able to run its own internal affairs in an independent way and the
Lebanese-Syrian relations were well defined by bilateral
agreements.
Syria's reaction to the resolution was by no
means obedient.
Right after the resolution was adopted on
Thursday, Syria immediately described it as a "failure" for the United States,
because the original text was changed and the name of Syria was forced out of
the final one.
Hassan on Saturday accused the United States
of using the Security Council to revenge Syria's opposition to its war on Iraq.
However, Syria did not completely shut its doors to the
United States, still insisting on continuing a dialogue with
Washington.
Assad made clear this willingness for dialogue
on Saturday while receiving visiting US Congressman Darel Issa and two US
scholars.
As for the Israeli threats, Syria handles them
with relative ease.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara
dismissed on Thursday the Israeli accusations as lacking credibility, and
warning against exacerbating the already deteriorating situation in the Middle
East.
Israeli military intelligence chief General Aharon
Zeevi confirmed later Thursday that no direct link was established between the
Beersheva bombings and Damascus.
Hassan said on Saturday
that he saw little possibility of an Israeli attack.
Under
current international conditions, Israel would not risk to attack Syria, Hassan
said. He made a particular reference to the US government, which he said would
not encourage Sharon to take such an action.
However, Syria will remain "cautious and sober to any possible event in the future", he said. Enditem |
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