Syria envoy wants U.S., Israel to withdraw troops too
Reuters
Date: 03-23-05
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Syria's ambassador to Washington said on Wednesday he hoped the United States and Israel would follow his country's example and withdraw from Iraq and Palestinian areas, just as Syria was leaving Lebanon.
"We will withdraw (from Lebanon) as soon as possible, the sooner the better. And we are not talking of two or three months. We will do this very, very quickly," Syria's envoy Imad Moustapha said in a speech at Georgetown University.
"I hope this will inspire other countries in the Middle East to withdraw their occupations from Iraq and from Palestine and from Syria itself," he said.
"President Bush has many times spoken about making Iraq a model that will inspire the whole Arab world. ... I think the Arab people will love to see this (Syrian) model followed by the Americans and the Israelis."
Faced with mounting international pressure and Lebanese popular protests, Syria has completed the first stage of a two-phase plan to pull all its troops and intelligence officials out of neighboring Lebanon, which it has dominated for three decades.
Moustapha said a Lebanese-Syrian committee meeting in early April would set the exact timetable for the final withdrawal.
The United States has recently stepped up pressure on Syria to complete its pullout, and to stop what Washington considers support for terrorist groups. Washington calls Syria a state sponsor of terrorism, and accuses it of allowing militants and money to flow into Iraq to support the Iraqi insurgency.
Moustapha was critical of U.S. policies throughout his speech, saying many were hypocritical or dictated by Israel.
He also took a dig at the United States' detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"I do not feel proud that Syria has political detainees just like you have in Guantanamo Bay, people who don't know what are they charged of, when will they ever be released, if they will be tried, and if they have access to their attorneys," he said.
"Our plans are by June 2005 not to have a single political prisoner in Syria. We want to make anything similar to your Guantanamo Bay a part of our past," Moustapha said.
Despite his barbs, the ambassador also made clear his country was eager to improve its relations with the United States and hoped Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon would be a step in that direction.
"We hope that once this chapter ends ... we can find common ground with the United States, because Syria has a desire to engage positively with the United States. We do not consider Syria an enemy to the United States. And we do not want to be regarded as an enemy by the United States," he said.
"I don't think any country in the world would like to be regarded as an enemy to the United States. If you don't believe me, go and ask the list of 30 countries that were invaded by your troops in the past 30 years."
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