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.”
In an interview with the Yedioth
Ahronoth newspaper, Sharon stopped short of calling for military
action against Syria insisting that greater diplomatic and
economic pressure be brought upon the country to make it fall
into line.
The prime minister enumerated a
five-point Israeli-wish list and demanded that the international
community must ensure that Syria complies with them. His demands
included the dismantling of Palestinian resistance organisations
like Hamas within Syrian territory and an end to continued
Syrian cooperation with Iran.
Sharon's statements came on a day
in which US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, believed to
be an avid advocate of a new Damascus front in the
so-called war on terror, announced that US forces had shut down
an oil pipeline between Iraq and Syria.
In Iran, where the developments
are being viewed with increasing alarm, officials
reacted by stating that any US-military action against Syria
would be seen as a prelude to action against Iran.
Mohsen Rezai, secretary of the
Iran’s powerful Expediency Coucil, underlined that any
military action against Syria would be unjustified. “If Syria
is attacked, Iran should not stay neutral,” he said.
The French foreign minister
Dominique de Villepin spoke to the US secretary of state, Colin
Powell late on Monday and a senior foreign ministry spokesman
said on Tuesday that the talks had covered “the escalating war
of words between Washington and Damascus.”
According to the spokesman, the
French foreign minister is stated to have told Powell that the
“war in Iraq has sparked a feeling of worry and humiliation in
the Arab world.”
Caught in the eye of the storm,
Syria reacted angrily to the US-accusations that it had weapons
of mass destruction, had tested chemical weapons in the last 15
months and was harbouring prominent members of Saddam
Hussein’s former government.
In dismissing the US
accusations, the Syrian cabinet stated that the “escalating
language of threats and accusations by some American officials
against Syria are aimed at damaging its steadfastness and
influencing its national decisions and national stances.”
Official Syrian radio also
lent its voice to the chorus, calling for Arab solidarity
to foil what it called Zionist plans to assume full control over
the region and rearrange it.
Spain however provided some
soothing balm for Syria. Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar,
despite being an ally of the US in its war against Iraq, said
that “Spain will remain a friend of Spain and will not be the
target of any military action.”
-- Al
Jazeera and agencies
