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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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