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Assad: Syria prepared to send troops to Iraq, but only if US occupation ends
Compiled by Daily Star staff, 9/30/03
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday his country was ready to help restore independence to Iraq, including sending troops, but not during the US occupation of its neighbor.
“Syria can help in the re-establishment of Iraq’s independence but our participation must respond to the will of the Iraqi people,” Assad told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
“But it is obvious we cannot intervene or send troops during the American occupation, because we would be considered occupying troops, just like the Americans, and be rejected,” he said.
He called for a date to be set for an end to the US-led occupation of Iraq, warning that otherwise there would be continued resistance from Iraqis.
Assad also criticized US President George W. Bush, questioning the failure of coalition forces to find alleged weapons of mass destruction that Washington and London used as justification for the war on Iraq.
“I would also ask him where is democracy in Iraq, where are the better living conditions that were promised,” he said.
Syria has come under heavy US pressure since the war not to intervene in the affairs of its neighbor and has been accused of allowing militants to cross into Iraq to kill American forces.
For his part, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa characterized the situation in Iraq as “very dangerous” and said the “deteriorating security condition” was of major concern to the Arab world.
“Syria is directly affected by the events in Iraq and is very concerned about Iraq’s future,”
he told the United Nations assembly Monday according to a press release obtained by The Daily Star.
He said the lack of security in Iraq “cannot be settled by increasing the number of troops or by using force, or even by accusing neighboring countries” of interfering in Iraq’s affairs.
“It can only be settled by taking a complete series of measures that aim to restore the Iraqi people’s freedom, independence and sovereignty and through defining a clear timetable for the withdrawal of the occupation forces,” he said.
Turning to Israel, Sharaa rejected what he described as the double standards applied to Arabs vis-a-vis possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and Israel’s “variety of nonconventional weapons.”
“Regretfully, some members of the international community continue to accuse the Arab and Islamic world (of having WMDs) while ignoring the arsenal of weapons of mass destruction possessed by Israel,” he said, calling on the international community to support a WMD-free Middle East.
“Israel considers itself to be above international law and all the United Nations resolutions regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict continue to remain hostage to US and Israeli politics,” he added. Agencies, The Daily Star
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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