- DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria said
Monday it had chosen to support the Iraqi people against the illegal US-British
invasion of Iraq, following a new warning against Damascus from US Secretary
of State Colin Powell.
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- "Syria has chosen to align itself with the brotherly
Iraqi people who are facing an illegal and unjustified invasion and against
whom are being committed all sorts of crimes against humanity," a
foreign ministry spokesman said.
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- In the latest shot in the growing war of words between
the two countries over Iraq, Powell said Sunday that "Syria now faces
a critical choice. Syria can continue direct support for terrorist groups
and the dying regime of Saddam Hussein, or it can embark on a different
and more hopeful course.
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- "Either way, Syria bears the responsibility for
its choices, and for the consequences."
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- Powell, who also warned Iran, said that as part of its
"overall strategy in combating terrorism," Washington was "demanding
more responsible behaviour" from "states that do not follow acceptable
patterns of behaviour."
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- Washington considers Syria and Iran state sponsors of
what it terms "terrorism," in reference to its support of resistance
groups fighting Israeli occupation of Arab lands, and though Syria is not
included with Iran, Iraq and North Korea on President George W. Bush's
"axis of evil," it fears it is already being lined up for US
attention after Iraq.
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- The Syrian spokesman said Powell, "like the whole
world, knows that Syria has chosen to be with international legitimacy
represented by the United Nations and the Security Council whose role is
to preserve world peace and security."
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- Syria, one of the rotating non-permanent members of the
Security Council, "has chosen to be with the international consensus
which has said no to aggression against Iraq, the bombardments of cities,
the massacre of innocent civilians, the destruction of houses, power plants
and water stations," the statement went on.
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- Noting that Powell was speaking to the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), it said he was clearly "affirming
that all the actions of the US administration in the region serve Israeli
interests and plans and satisfy Ariel Sharon," the Israeli prime minister.
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- "The officials of this administration are thereby
obtaining good conduct certificates from Israel and its supporters in the
US," it added.
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- Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al Sharaa told parliament
at the weekend that "Syria's interest is to see the invaders defeated
in Iraq," according to Monday's official press.
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- "The resistance of the Iraqis is extremely important,"
he said. "It is a heroic resistance to the US-British occupation of
their country."
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- Sharaa said Washington justified its attack on Iraq as
a war of "liberation and preservation of democracy and human rights,
while it is killing and destroying."
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- US and British troops "have been shocked by the
welcome from the Iraqis, who have not received them with flowers but protests
against their deceitful slogans and a fierce resistance," he added.
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- US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed Friday that
"we have information of shipments of military supplies crossing the
border from Syria into Iraq."
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- The deliveries, which he said included night vision goggles,
"pose a direct threat to the lives of coalition forces," Rumsfeld
charged. "We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold
the Syrian government accountable."
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- He declined to say whether the Syrian government was
behind the shipments, but stressed: "They control their border. We're
hopeful that kind of thing does not happen again.
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- "There is no question but that to the extent military
supplies, equipment or people move across borders between Iraq and Syria
that it vastly complicates our situation."
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- Earlier Friday, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad said
in an interview with a Lebanese newspaper that he hoped US forces would
fail to oust President Saddam and predicted that if they were to conquer
Iraq, popular resistance would prevent them from controlling it.
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-
- The same day, Syrian mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro called
for suicide attacks against invading US forces, while a foreign ministry
spokesman said Rumsfeld was trying to justify the slow progress of his
troops in their drive on Baghdad.
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- On Sunday, Al Jazeera television reported that an unknown
number of Syrians had arrived in Iraq's northern city of Mosul to fight
against the aggressors.
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- Israel, a long-time foe of Syria, whose Golan Heights
it has occupied since 1967, weighed in Monday, with a senior intelligence
officer telling a parliamentary committee that Iraq might have moved missiles
and weapons of mass destruction into Syria.
-
- General Yossi Kupperwasser said this could explain why
US-led forces scouring suspect sites in western Iraq had found nothing
so far, Israeli radio reported.
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-
- But a senior US commander, Brigadier General Vincent
Brooks, said Monday that to his knowledge US forces had so far encountered
no Iraqis on the battlefield carrying night vision goggles.
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- http://www.jordantimes.com/Tue/news/news3.htm
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