Syria brushed aside yesterday as “futile” United States pressure to secure its cooperation with US policies and argued that Washington should display a better understanding of Arab interests. “These pressures will not have a negative impact on us,” said Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam.
The US Congress, concerned over what it sees as a failure by Syria to halt infiltration of militants into Iraq, is mulling a Syria Accountability Act which could lead to more sanctions against Damascus, a stern opponent to the US presence in Iraq.
“They can decide what they want, but we also have our independent will and interests. These pressures are absolutely futile,” he said. “As far as we are concerned, we will bear the pressure and be patient because we have a cause that we cannot abandon,” he added in reference to Syria’s demands that Israel withdraw from all occupied Arab land and an end to the occupation of Iraq.
Foreign Minister Farouk Shara said earlier this week Syria would meet any “reasonable” US request for help following US accusations that Damascus was not doing enough to end support for “terrorist activity”. Syria is on a US list of nations accused of sponsoring terrorism on the back of its support to anti-Israel Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups which it calls freedom fighters.
“We were hoping that some US politicians would appreciate the concerns and interests of others and not only (their) limited interests,” Khaddam told reporters at a meeting with a delegation of an unofficial Iraqi tribal body.
Hussein Ali Shaalan, whose tribal council wants a peaceful end to the presence of US-led troops in Iraq, said the group was seeking help from Syria to stabilize the war-ravaged country.
“Syria is an important country with political and diplomatic capabilities and is a current member of the (UN) Security Council, therefore we are interested in all that Syria can do to secure a swift stabilization in Iraq,” he said.
The United States on Tuesday warned Syria that it would be “held accountable” for any attempts to acquire or market weapons of mass destruction and its links to extremist groups. The White House put Syria on guard after a top State Department official said the Middle East country was a growing threat to international security and a concern to the United States.
Khaddam said assassination attempts such as yesterday’s shooting of an Iraqi Governing Council member were not the “right way” to deal with the US-led occupation. “Iraq is a country without a state. Such events, although painful, are expected in the absence of law and in the absence of a state,” Khaddam said.
“But assassinations do not constitute the right way to face the difficult circumstances in Iraq,” he told the delegation of Iraqi tribal chiefs. Early in the day, gunmen shot and seriously wounded a female member of the Governing Council, Akila Al-Hashimi, in the first attack on an official of the US-installed administration since the April fall of the Saddam Hussein regime.
Khaddam said his talks with the tribal chiefs would focus on “the help that Syria could provide to the Iraqi people”. Khaddam ruled out a possible disintegration of war-battled Iraq with its diverse ethnic groups. “The Iraqi people are conscious of the importance of national unity and all categories and religious authorities agree on this question,” said the Syrian vice president.
Shaalan called for a quick end to the occupation. “We hope the Americans will promptly put an end to the occupation… We want the Iraqis to govern their country,” the tribal chief told the joint press conference.
