Syria's Assad Holds Talks with British Official on Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Syria's Assad Holds Talks with British Official on Iraq

Amid increasing US accusations on Syria, President Bashar al-Assad met in Damascus Monday with visiting British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien to discuss the post-war Iraq.

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Amid increasing US accusations on Syria, President Bashar al-Assad met in Damascus Monday with visiting British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien to discuss the post-war Iraq.

In a statement issued after the meeting, O'Brien said he briefedAssad on the US-led coalition's plans on rebuilding post-war Iraq, including creating an interim Iraqi authority as soon as possible to "enable the Iraqis to frame a new constitution and hold elections."

"(Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein is finished. The coalition will go home as soon as the Iraqi people have an elected government," O'Brien said.

The meeting between Assad and O'Brien came amid the increasing US accusations against Syria for supporting the ousted Iraqi regime, having chemical weapons and possibly harbouring top fugitive Iraqi officials sought by the US-led coalition.

The US accusations on Syria, which is on a list of countries accused of sponsoring terrorism, have stirred fears that hawks in Washington could target Syria or Iran for the next war in the region.

Syria has strongly opposed the US-led war on Iraq and feared that the war could lead to the division of Iraq resulting in the establishment of a Kurdish state in Iraq's north.

But O'Brien assured Assad that Iraq's territorial integrity would be preserved, addressing fears by Syria, Turkey and Iran thatIraq could be divided into several states including a Kurdish state.

O'Brien's visit to Damascus was part of a series of talks on post-war Iraq held between Britain and Iraq's neighbors.

Despite the US accusations on Syria, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pledged in Kuwait Monday that Syria was not "next on thelist" for military action. He urged Damascus to change its attitudenow that Saddam's regime was gone.

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