Key senator presses for end to Syrian occupation of Lebanon
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, June 16, 2000
WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration is being urged to pressure
Syria to end its occupation of Lebanon.
Sen. Sam Brownback, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, said Syria has turned
Lebanon into a satellite and installed a puppet government. He called on
the United States to stand up for democracy in Lebanon, Middle East Newsline reports.
"Syria has turned Lebanon into a satellite state with a puppet
government so demoralized that its leaders will not even appeal for their
own independence," Brownback said. "Syria and its allies in Teheran
manipulate the Lebanese people with weapons and with threats; they pit
Christians against Sunnis, Sunnis against Shi'ites. They sponsor and finance
terrorist groups that attacked Israel and others, operating like parasites
on Lebanese soil, and that all continues to take place.
"There's no reason the U.S. should be subjugating our national
principles again and again in the desperate hope for a page in the history
books," Brownback said. "We do need to stand up for the democracy for the
people of Lebanon and for the people of Syria, for an end to occupation for
Lebanon."
Brownback said the United States must pressure for a disarmament of what
he called terrorist groups such as Hizbullah. He called for an end to U.S.
arms deliveries to the Lebanese army until it assumes control of the south
in wake of the Israeli withdrawal from the area.
The administration did not appear to agree with this approach. U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker avoided calling for a Syrian
withdrawal from Lebanon. He acknowledged that the Lebanese army has refused
to deploy in southern Lebanon, but said he didn't know whether the United
States would take measures against Beirut.
Walker stressed that the United States would support any Israeli attack
on Lebanon should Hizbullah resume strikes on Israel. But he said the
administration would not take any position on whether Syria turns to
democracy in the wake of the death of President Hafez Assad and the
succession of his son, Bashar.
"However, I can assure you that we do take a position on the policies of
Syria and whether they are constructive or not constructive," Walker said.
"And it is our hope that a new leadership in Syria would recognize that
terrorism is not in Syria's long-term interest, that its closed economy is
not in Syrian's long-term interest, and that the peace process is in Syria's
long-term interest. And those, in addition to the questions of human rights,
would be the issues that we would have on the forefront of our discussions
with the new leadership, once it comes into authority."
The U.S. assistant secretary said Washington can always increase
sanctions if Syria refuses to pull out of Lebanon or continue to violate
human rights. But he said he hopes Bashar will institute new policies that
will match those of U.S. interests.
Walker said Israel has been allowed to use $50 million of U.S. military
aid for the withdrawal from Lebanon. The aid will be used by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers which will solicit bids from Israeli and U.S.
contractors.
Friday, June 16, 2000
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