Syria Steps up Efforts to Ease Tension with US

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 18, 2003

Syria Steps up Efforts to Ease Tension with US

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In face of sanction threats from the United States over accusation that Damascus was developing chemical weapons and harboring senior Iraqi leaders and terrorists,Syria has taken a series of measures to ease tensions with the world's sole superpower.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Buthaina Shaaban said on Wednesday that senior Syrian officials hold face-to-face talks with US Ambassador to Syria Theodore Khattouf every two days recently. They exchanged ideas on how to resolve disputes between their countries.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad had several contacts with leaders of France, Britain and Spain by telephone in the pastdays, asking them to convey information to the United States and clarify his position on the issue.

On Thursday, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Faruk Shareh paid an official visit to Egypt. Following the consultations with Arab countries and the Europeans,Syria worked out several measures to resolve disputes with the United States.

Syria has closed its borders with Iraq to all but humanitarian traffic, allowing no Iraqis from inside the neighboring state to enter the country.

On Thursday it presented the United Nations Security Council with a draft resolution aiming to rid the entire Middle East of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The measure called for keepingthe region free of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and preventing terrorist groups from getting and possessing these weapons.

The Syrian government announced it was ready to sign any agreement on turning the Middle East into a WMD-free region. However, it rejected any arms inspections.

Analysts believe that the above-mentioned measures adopted by Damascus will contribute to easing the tension with the United States and are conducive to Syria's self-defense.

The United States, accusing Syria of possessing weapons of massdestruction, acquiesced to Israel's development of nuclear arms. Syria's draft resolution making the Middle East region WMD-free will cover Israel, who has not admitted nor denied the allegationsthat it has WMD.

Disputes on the issue of anti-terrorism also strained the US-Syrian relations.

The US State Department listed the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Islamic Jihad and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command) as"international terrorist groups." These groups were supported by Syria.

The US asked for a disarmament of Hizbollah and changing it into a political organization. Its demand of shutting down the office of those organizations in Damascus was turned down by Syriawhich believed they are legal resistance forces against Israeli occupation.

The US then listed Syria as a state sponsor of "terrorism."

After the September 11 terror attack in 2001, the United Stateslaunched a sweeping anti-terrorism campaign throughout the world with a doctrine of "preemptive attacks." The Middle East region was turned into a major battlefield.

The analysts say that the future of the US-Syria ties depends on the development of three key issues: alleged sheltering of Iraqi senior officials, WMD and supporting of radical groups.

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