Posted on 06/13/2003 11:49:06 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell asked Syria on Friday to help stem terrorism in the Middle East. Powell telephoned the request to Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa as he widened his appeal to Arab countries. Syria, itself, is listed by the State Department as a sponsor of terror. Spokesman Richard Boucher said Hamas and other groups had offices in Damascus. Powell on Thursday made similar appeals to the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In all the conversations, including the one with the Syrian minister, Powell's message was "to stop the violence, to stop the violent groups," Boucher said. "I think it is clear what we want," Powell said Friday. "Hamas to stop it. Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Brigades, all of them to stop it." "We have to get moving and bring the terror down," he said. On the Israeli side, Powell said "we all are anxious to see restraint." But he said "we understand that it's important to get the terror down" and if that happens "the response to terror will no longer be required." Assistant Secretary of State John S. Wolf will arrive in the area this weekend to try to spur Israel and the Palestinians into peacemaking moves, Boucher said. Wolf will head a group of State Department and CIA officials whose assignment is to help mediate between the two sides and to assist in strengthening security. They will start meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials shortly after their arrival, the spokesman said. Asked about a pause Friday in the bloodletting, Boucher said, "I don't think we count it in hours." White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, meanwhile, that "Wolf's mission is to help the parties even in the darkest moments find their way to remember the vision to peace." President Bush expects them to help both sides implement the road map, "knowing that there will be violence that interrupts progress on the way towards implementing the actions that both parties are supposed to take," Fleischer said. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has suggested positioning an armed force as a buffer between Israel and the Palestinians. Boucher, in response, said third parties could help but it was mostly up to Israel and the Palestinians to stem the violence. "It is an idea that comes up again and again," he said. "Frankly, we've heard people talk about it the last 10 or 15 years. But, again and again when it's come up, I think people who have looked at it closely have always said, absent the agreement of the parties, the interpositional force can't achieve its own goals without the parties agreeing to do certain things." At the same time, Boucher said the Bush administration had urged the European Union to designate the political arm of Hamas as a terror group. The State Department makes no distinction between political and military parts of such groups in designating them as terrorists. --
--Boris
So that we can say we have pursued 'diplomatic means' in confronting Syria's terrorist ties. The fact that Powell did it himself, rather than one of his minions, and that his request was 'leaked' to the press rather than articulated through quieter channels tells me that it is a calculated maneuver.
What the calculation is, I couldn't tell you .... Laying groundwork for ????
Have you seen this:
Sun Tzu visits the Middle East
It is about the Bush strategery!
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