War (of Words) with Syria
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Tuesday, Apr 15, 2003
Ha'aretz -- April 16
Dozens of senior Iraqis flee to Syria
By Ze'ev Schiff
Dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of Iraqi officials escaped to Syria, according to fresh assessments by intelligence organizations including the U.S., British and Israeli services, which were surprised by the large numbers involved after initial estimates that only a few dozen made their way to Syria during or prior to the war.
Arabic News -- April 15
Mubarak discusses with Bush the Iraqi issue, threats on Syria
Well- informed diplomatic sources in Cairo said that the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, is seeking to contain the statements and threats launched by American officials, in which they accused Syria of supporting terrorism, seeking to own chemical weapons and harboring former officials in the regime of the toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
[Also covered in Mubarak-Bush conversation were the Israel Palestine roadmap and the situation in Iraq.]
[Tuesday's comments from Sharon. Support for Syria from Iran and Spain.]
Al Jazeera -- April 15
Syria dominates Middle East agenda
Syria continued to dominate the world’s agenda on Tuesday amid a flurry of statements and diplomatic manoeuvrings.
Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon weighed into the war of words demanding that greater pressure be brought upon the recalcitrant” country by the US to rid it of Palestinian "terrorists" while Iran threatened that any US-military action against Syria would be construed as an attack against Iran.
Through the escalating wrangle, Syria has struck a consistent note of indignation alleging that hardline “Zionists” had infiltrated the corridors of power in Washington and taken over its Middle East policy.
Israel’s Prime Minister was the harshest on Syria on the day, accusing its president, Bashar al-Asad of being a “dangerous" man, "whose judgment was impaired.”
[Comments from several Lebanese officials.]
The Daily Star -- April 15
Lebanese leaders stand by Syria against US
Speaker calls on america to respect rights of other countries
by Khalil Fleihan
Lebanese leaders are standing by Syria against charges from US officials that Damascus has been supporting the regime of Saddam Hussein and possesses weapons of mass destruction.
Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday called for a halt to such statements from officials in the US administration.
[More on the pipeline.]
UPI -- April 15
Iraq, Syria had big plans for oil
By Hil Anderson
LOS ANGELES -- The coalition's shutdown of a crude pipeline linking northern Iraq with the Syrian port of Banias for now has pulled the plug on the ties that Damascus had forged with Saddam Hussein's regime in the energy sector.
[Rumsfeld confirms pipeline story. Review of recent comments from the US, Syria, Israel, Spain, UK, Hezbollah, UN.]
BBC -- April 15
US 'blocks' Syria pipeline
Ties between the US and Syria have long been strained
The US says it has blocked a pipeline used to pump Iraqi oil to Syria, in volume that allegedly violated UN sanctions.
There were fresh rumours last week that Syria had been importing large amounts of Iraqi oil in contravention of sanctions on Iraq, when Syrian crude oil deliveries fell sharply after a pipeline was thought to have been bombed.
The disclosure can only add to increasingly strained relations between the US and Syria, which on Tuesday rebuffed recent US allegations that it is developing chemical weapons.
Syria said such claims were designed to further the interests of Israel.
Arab countries, Russia and the European Union have also condemned the US for making threats against Syria over the war in Iraq.
But on Tuesday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer kept up the pressure, saying "the focus is on Syria because Syria is the nation that is harbouring Iraqis" - a reference to the US claim that some of Saddam Hussein's allies may have fled to the country.
[A review of recent US and Israeli rhetoric directed towards Syria.]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty -- April 15
U.S./Syria: What's Behind Washington's War Of Words?
By Jeffrey Donovan
"The president, the vice president, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the national security adviser and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff have all issued threats and warnings to Syria over the last week. This is unheard-of with respect to U.S.-Syrian relations. Never before have those high-level officials made those kinds of statements."
Other Syria Watching Bloggers
Sam Rosenfeld
Calpundit
[Another article on Powell's Tuesday comments. Rice's and Annan's comments from Monday are quoted below.]
AP via The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, VA -- April 15
Powell Tones Down Rhetoric Toward Syria
By BARRY SCHWEID
"It is time to sign on to a different kind of Middle East," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Monday as Syria took another public pasting from the administration.
Rice, in a parallel thrust at Damascus, said Syria's support for terrorism and "harboring the remnants of the Iraqi regime" were unacceptable. But she indicated the administration was not contemplating military action.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "concerned that recent statements directed at Syria should not contribute to a wider destabilization in a region already affected heavily by the war in Iraq."
[New comments from Powell today. "Imposing democratic values" is an interesting oxymoron.]
Sky News -- April 15
POWELL: CONCERNS
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, has said the US has no war plan to attack either Syria or Iran.
"We have concerns about Syria," he said. "We have let Syria know of our concerns. We also have concerns about some of the policies of Iran.
"We have made the Iranians fully aware of our concerns," Mr Powell said.
"But there is no list, there is no war plan right now to go attack someone else either for the purpose of overthrowing their leadership or for the purpose of imposing democratic values," Powell said.