Posted on 10/22/2003 7:01:02 PM PDT by Prodigal Son
PARIS (AFP) — Syria's leading opposition figure Riad Turk on Tuesday accused President Bashar Assad's government of trying to reach a security deal with Washington that would allow Damascus to quash opposition forces at home. “The Syrian authorities tried to reach a compromise even before the end of the war in Iraq, and the government responded favourably to a certain number of American demands,” Turk told reporters in the French capital.
The veteran communist militant said Assad was “trying to reach a secret deal with the Americans that would protect (Damascus) from outside threats in order to better allow it to control opposition forces on the inside.”
“If the opposition were better organised, it could make some progress. But it's still waiting for Assad to keep his promises, instead of taking the initiative,” the dissident noted.
Assad “does not control everything” in Syria, Turk said without elaborating.
Tensions between Syria and the United States have been mounting in the wake of the war on Iraq.
Last week, the US House of Representatives passed a draft that would give Washington a range of diplomatic and financial options for sanctioning Syria for its alleged ties to terrorist groups and purported efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction.
The draft, known as the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Act, must be now be approved by the US Senate, a move expected in the coming weeks. US President George W. Bush has indicated he will sign it into law.
Damascus said that it, nonetheless, wanted to pursue dialogue with the United States.
US policy on Syria “has been opaque up until now,” Turk said, but warned that the pending US legislation could be “dangerous” in the long-term.
Imprisoned for more than 17 years under Assad's father, the late Syrian president Hafez Assad, Turk was released in 1998 and then rearrested when he criticised the “hereditary nature” of the regime.
The 73-year-old man was released from jail last November after serving only a few months of a two-and-a-half-year sentence.
Umm, when did this war end?
Saddam........or his WMD or maybe both.
I wonder what Assad will give us to call off Israel....hehe!
Plus reports today of sonic booms over Beirut, Beeka valley. Isreali AF calling cards?
That would explain the Syrian bear suddenly rising into the cross hairs again, wouldn't it? Nice take on the situation, you may be right.
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