Tuesday, 27 November 2001 16:40 (ET)

Syrian FM warns U.S.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Syria's foreign minister warned Tuesday that any U.S. military action against any Arab country following its campaign in Afghanistan would be "a deadly mistake." Farouk Sharaa was referring to remarks by President George Bush on Monday that Iraq would be the next target in the U.S.-led war on international terrorism.

"Threatening any Arab country is rejected, and hitting any Arab country will cause problems that would have a start but no end, said Sharaa. "I believe that it would be a deadly mistake to harm any Arab country."

Bush issued a veiled warning to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying there would be consequences if Iraq did not allow U.N. weapons inspectors into the country. Saddam expelled the inspectors in 1998. Sharaa, who spoke to reporters after meeting with Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and House Speaker Nabih Berri, denied the United States was pressuring both Lebanon and Syria to halt their military assistance to Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group on the border with Israel.

"We clarified this stand (from Hezbollah) to the United States and we agreed that this difference in opinion could be a point for consultation and an exchange of points of view to achieve a definition for terrorism," he said.

Sharaa maintains that Hezbollah is an armed resistance group and not terrorists.

The foreign minister, however, said the United States' vision for the Middle East included "positive points, no doubt." He cited U.S. calls to end the Israeli occupation of Arab territories, the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and the application of the land-for-peace principle drafted at the Madrid Conference, which launched the Arab-Israeli peace process in 1991.

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001

Answers

Syria's new king is in a world of hurts, with a pro-Hizbullah populace, Iraqis wreaking political havoc inside his realm and now the U.S. knocking on his door. I can only hope that this anti-U.S. stance is nothing more than lip-service, disinformation to keep his populace calm. Otherwise, Syria's going to glow...

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001