Washington tells Syria to withdraw army from Lebanon
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
18 February 2005


President George Bush has called on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon - the latest effort by Washington to increase pressure on a country it accuses of supporting terrorism. Mr Bush said Syria should adhere to a UN resolution demanding it withdraw the troops it has had in Lebanon for the past three decades.

Since the assassination on Monday of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, in Beirut, the Bush administration has noticeably increased its rhetoric towards Syria, blurring the lines between the words it actually uses and the meaning it wishes to imply. Two years ago, the administration used a similar tactic to suggest Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks of 11 September.

On Wednesday, for instance, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declined to explicitly blame Syria for Mr Hariri's death, she sought to put pressure on the Damascus government over this issue. "We have been very clear that we don't know who is responsible for the bombing," she told a Senate committee.

"But the Syrians - given their position in Lebanon, given their interference in Lebanese affairs, given the fact their forces are there, given the terrorists that operate in southern Lebanon with Syrian forces in close proximity to them - does put on the Syrians a special responsibility for the kind of destabilisation there."

Mr Bush, happy to cite UN resolutions when they suit US needs, continued in similar style yesterday and said the US would work with other countries in the region to put pressure on Syria to withdraw its troops. "I can't tell you yet [if Syria was behind Monday's killing]. I don't know that. I'm going to withhold judgment until we know what the facts are." He went on to say he believed that Syria, which the US lists as a state sponsor of terrorism, was "out of step with the progress being made in the greater Middle East".

The US has been quick to seize on Mr Hariri's death to build momentum in its efforts to pressure Syria, which it also accuses of acting as a safe haven for insurgents in Iraq. This week, the US withdrew its ambassador in an attempt to try to isolate Syria.

At the same time, Syria has been looking for support from countries in the region. On Wednesday, Iran - another country facing intense US pressure and claims about its support of terrorism - announced it would form a united front with Syria against US threats.

Yesterday, Iran's former president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, called on other countries such as Iraq and Lebanon to strengthen their links with Iran and Syria to create a closer alliance.

The US is considering a number of options in regard to Syria - the freezing of its assets, further diplomatic withdrawal or tightening of sanctions.

Last May, the Bush administration imposed sanctions that blocked exports with the exception of food and medicine and some observers have said it would be difficult to impose further restrictions.

Daniel Byman, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said the US was cleverly focusing on an issue on which Syria was widely condemned - its occupation of Lebanon - to increase pressure and try to achieve results on other issues.

"There is a definite attempt to ratchet up the pressure but there is little support for this outside of the US," he said.

Mr Bush said he would consult with allies about Syria when he visits Europe next week. As with Iran, Europe's approach to dealing with Syria has been in sharp contrast to that of the US