- DAMASCUS (IPS) - U.S. Defence
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's abrupt warning to Syria against any military
support to Iraq has inevitably raised tensions in a region already angered
by the war against Iraq.
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- Syrian efforts to support the U.S. war on terror following
the September 11 attacks seem to count for little now. The verbal assault
from Rumsfeld has fuelled fears that Syria too is within U.S. military
sights.
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- Rumsfled asked Syria Friday to stay clear of Iraq. äWe
have information that shipments of military supplies have been crossing
the border from Syria into Iraq, including night-vision goggles,ä
Rumsfeld said. äThese deliveries pose a direct threat to the lives
of coalition forces. We consider such trafficking as hostile acts, and
will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments.ä
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- With U.S. and British forces strung out 220 miles in
central and southern Iraq, and with U.S. paratroopers clearing the way
to open a second front in northern Iraq, the last thing Washington wants
is what it regards as interference from Iraq's neighbours.
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- The ability of the U.S. and British forces to fight effectively
at night is a major military advantage over Iraqi forces, and supply of
night vision goggles to Iraq could negate that advantage somewhat.
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- Rumsfeld offered no details of the action the administration
might take but said the shipment ävastly complicatesä the military
operation. He declined to say whether the Syrian government had backed
the shipments.
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- Syria has been on the list of terrorist states of the
U.S. State Department because it hosts anti-Israel Palestinian factions
and supports Hizbollah, the Lebanese guerrilla group that the U.S. accuses
of being a terrorist organisation.
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- But Syria was aggressive in denying what it called "unfounded
and baseless" allegations from Rumsfeld.
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- "What Donald Rumsfeld said about the transportation
of equipment from Syria to Iraq is an attempt to cover up the ugly war
crimes committed by his forces against unarmed civilians in Iraq, which
constitute a violation of international law," a foreign ministry spokesman
said in a statement.
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- "After the failed expectations of a swift and clean
victory, Rumsfeld was attempting to justify the failure of his forces...
by accusing others of smuggling equipment to Iraq," the spokesman
said.
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- äHe (Rumsfeld) only brings problems for his country
and humanity at large,ä Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bouthaine Shaban
told IPS. äIt is an absolutely unfounded, irresponsible statement,
just like his statements that brought his country and the allied countries
into a terrible, unnecessary war on Iraq.ä
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- Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf denied
in an interview with the Lebanese LBC television channel that Iraq was
receiving any military equipment from Syria.
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- Syria, currently the only Arab member of the UN Security
Council, has been steadfastly opposed to the war on Iraq.
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- It voted in favour of resolution 1441 requiring Iraq
to disarm or face serious consequences, but Syria said the vote was intended
to prevent war by allowing resumption of arms inspections.
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- Syrian President Bashar Assad told the Lebanese newspaper
Al-Safir Thursday that the U.S.-British military offensive in Iraq is äclear
occupation and a flagrant aggression against a United Nations member state.ä
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- Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, Syria's top Muslim religious
leader, called Thursday for suicide bombings against U.S. and British invaders
in Iraq. The suicide attack on U.S. marines Saturday following his statement
looks set to further strain relations between Syria and the U.S.
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- äI call on Muslims everywhere to use all means possible
to thwart the aggression, including martyr operations against the belligerent
American, British and Zionist invaders,ä the mufti said in a statement,
a copy of which was faxed to IPS. äResistance to the belligerent invaders
is an obligation for all Muslims, starting with Iraq.ä
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- This is the first time a senior Syrian religious leader
has called for suicide attacks against U.S. and British troops in Iraq.
Syria views suicide attacks by Palestinians against Israel as legitimate
äresistance to occupation.ä
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- Since the conflict began, Arab and Islamic nations have
come to regard the invasion by U.S. and British troops as a revival of
the Crusades of the Middle Ages. Several Islamic leaders have gone so far
as to call for a "jihad (holy war) against the infidels."
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- http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=17147
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