[iwar] [fc:Syria.Offers.To.Share.Intelligence.With.U.S..In.Exchange.For.Help.With.Palestinian.Cause]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-03 12:54:15


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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Syria.Offers.To.Share.Intelligence.With.U.S..In.Exchange.For.Help.With.Palestinian.Cause]
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Wall Street Journal
October 3, 2001
Syria Offers To Share Intelligence With U.S. In Exchange For Help With Palestinian Cause

By James M. Dorsey, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

DAMASCUS, Syria -- The government of Syria has agreed to share
intelligence with the U.S.  about militant groups in the Mideast, but
its support comes with conditions. 

People close to Syrian intelligence said Syria, despite its criticism of
the U.S.'s Mideast policy, is willing to share intelligence and
expertise with the U.S.  The people said Syria could make a major
contribution given its knowledge of Muslim groups willing to engage in
suicide attacks.  The Syrian capital, Damascus, is home to militant
Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.  Syria has close ties to the
Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, which opposes Israel and is
accused by the U.S.  of attacking its embassies and military facilities
in the 1980s. 

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa told reporters after talks with
his German counterpart, Joschka Fischer, Tuesday that Syria is
"determined to help the international effort to combat terrorism." Mr. 
Sharaa added, however, that to achieve that goal, terrorism's "roots and
causes" would have to be addressed -- an allusion to the Arab-Israeli
conflict.  Mr.  Sharaa said Israeli occupation of Arab lands is "the
highest level of terrorism." Still, Syria's apparent willingness to
cooperate is another sign of a U.S.-Arab rapprochement in the Mideast,
where Israeli-Palestinian violence over the past year had worsened
U.S.-Arab relations.  Many Arab leaders are sympathetic with
Washington's quest to retaliate against Osama bin Laden, whom the U.S. 
blames for last month's terrorist attacks in the U.S.  However, they
generally share three caveats, listed by Mr.  Sharaa to a European Union
delegation: no attack on an Arab country, no Israeli participation in
any retaliation and more-vigorous U.S.  involvement in restarting the
Mideast peace process. 

The U.S.  has promised to push for Israeli-Palestinian peace in an
effort to gain Arab backing for its campaign against terrorism, Lebanese
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said in an interview last week.  The pledge
included an understanding that the U.S.  would take political and
economic measures in addition to military moves to stamp out terrorism,
Mr.  Hariri said.  President Bush gave Arab leaders a further boost
Tuesday when he told reporters that a Palestinian state "has always been
a part of a vision, so long as the right of Israel to exist is
respected."

Palestinian leaders, who have urged Washington to renew Mideast
mediation efforts, welcomed his remarks.  The initial Israeli reaction
was more cautious.  Daniel Ayalon, foreign-policy adviser to Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, said full calm must be restored after a year of
conflict before peace negotiations can restart. 

Mr.  Hariri said Arab leaders are "skeptical" about the U.S.  pledge
because of consistent U.S.  support for Israel in the past.  "So far,
the United States says 'we agree, but we must first concentrate on bin
Laden,' " he said. 

"For the sake of the United States, for the sake of the United States'
Arab friends, we want the United States strongly engaged in solving
problems," Mr.  Hariri said. 

People close to talks between U.S.  officials and Arab leaders said
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries had privately pledged cooperation,
without conditions, with the U.S.  campaign against terrorism, but are
reluctant to make it public because they fear a backlash at home. 

Mr.  Bush said the U.S.  still backs a proposal drafted by former Sen. 
George Mitchell that calls, among other things, for a freeze on building
Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.  Israel has so far
rejected a freeze.  Syrian officials said the Mitchell proposals don't
go far enough because they fail to address an Israeli withdrawal from
conquered Arab lands, including the strategically important Golan
Heights. 

An already-shaky truce between Israel and Palestinians was threatened
further Tuesday when Palestinian gunmen broke into a guarded Jewish
settlement in the Gaza Strip and opened fire, killing at least two
Israelis and wounding several more. 

The Palestinian Authority condemned the raid and pledged to punish those
responsible for violating a week-old cease-fire with Israel.  But the
violence is likely to renew Israeli criticism that Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat hasn't done enough to rein in militants. 

Syrian President Bashar Assad, meanwhile, is walking a tightrope,
diplomats and people close to him say, seeking to restrain Hezbollah
from carrying out attacks against Israel while ensuring it remains a
political force in Lebanon.  These people say Mr.  Assad fears Hezbollah
attacks would provoke Israeli retaliation, which could escalate into a
Syrian-Israeli war. 


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