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| Syria-Lebanon |
| US, UK turn the screws on Syria, gently |
| 2003-04-14 |
| I guess you could call massing troops on their border while Israel makes faces from the other side "gently"... The heat is on Syria. On Monday, Damascus received an assurance that it was not next on the list of invasions, but with a rider. It has âimportant questionsâ to answer. There was some solace. The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged Washington to tone down its harsh statements about Syria, saying it was time to "cool down" the tense situation in the Middle East. "Now, we don't want to make them mad, do we?" "As far as 'Syria next on the list', we made clear that it is not," British foreign secretary Jack Straw told reporters in Bahrain. "There is no next list," he said. "There are important questions which the Syrians need to answer." "If they don't, then there'll be a list." Straw claimed there was evidence that Syria cooperated with the Saddam Hussein government in recent months and urged Damascus to change its attitude now that he was gone. "It is very important for Syria to appreciate there is a new reality now the Saddam regime is gone," Straw said. "It's a whole new ballgame, and Syria doesn't have a bat." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |