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US lawmaker says Syrian support for Hizbullah damages ties
Syrian support for Hizbullah remains a major impediment to improving strained relations with Washington, a senior US lawmaker said Thursday.
| Ummm... Yasss... You might say that... |
âThe training of terrorists (and) the operation of a global terrorist network cannot be part of any legitimate political or social organization,â said Senator Bob Graham, Democrat from Florida. âNor can we have a constructive relationship with a country that provides sanctuary to these terrorist organizations and their training camps." If Syrian President Bashar Assad fails to rein in the group, Washington should take action, in concert âwith our allies in the global coalition on terrorism,â said Graham, who did not elaborate on specific measures.
"What measures?"
"Diff'rent measures." |
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bouthaina Shaaban, who appeared on the podium with Graham, denied that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization. âHizbullah is a political party whose sole objective is to liberate its territory from the Israeli occupation,â she said, noting that there are some half-million uprooted Palestinians living on Syrian territory.
âEnding the (Israeli) occupation is the solution to all these problems,â she said.
| 281 dead Marines. But who's counting, eh? |
And far from being a state that supports terrorism, the information minister asserted that âSyria has always worked for peace.â
| That's why Islamic Jihad and the PFLP are headquartered there. The PFLP-General Command (a separate organization from PFLP) was founded by a Syrian army captain and receives its funding from Syria. All the most festive meetings of terror bigs seem to be held in Damascus. But no, they're not involved in terrorism. |
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-04-28 |
