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| Syria Rejects US Reform Plan for Mideast |
| 2004-03-01 |
| Syria joined Saudi Arabia and Egypt in opposing Washingtonâs plan for political and other reforms in the Middle East, according to an interview published yesterday. "Nope. Nope. Ain't gonna do it." âOur position is that we donât want any reform project to be dictated to us from abroad. Reforms must spring from the specifics of the region and not through the diktats of external forces,â Syrian Information Minister Ahmad Al-Hassan told the London-based daily Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat. âNo regime would accept the implementation of reforms under external pressure or diktats from abroad.â Saudi Arabia and Egypt said last week the Arab world was going through its own reforms and would reject any change imposed from outside. They were reacting to Washingtonâs Greater Middle East Initiative, which proposes funding for projects which would promote free elections, civil society, the empowerment of women and the modernization of education. "Nope. Nope. Can't have any of that!" Hassan defended Syriaâs emergency laws on the grounds that part of the country, the Golan Heights, is under Israeli occupation. The laws, in force since 1963, give the security authorities wide powers of detention. "They've only been in effect for 41 years. Give us time!" âThere is no country to the world which has part of its territory under occupation that does not have exceptional laws that might be used if its security is at risk,â he said. The US State Department, in its annual human rights report released last week, said members of the Syrian security forces committed numerous serious human rights abuses in 2003. Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail, arriving in Cairo yesterday for Arab League meetings, also objected to the Greater Middle East Initiative. |
| Posted by:Fred |