Syria asked to give up Saddam's $3bn loot

Telegraph ^ | 10/13/03 | tt

[Mark Felton]

America believes that up to $3 billion of Saddam Hussein's loot is stashed away in Syrian government-controlled banks, a senior US official said yesterday.

	Saddam was once named by Forbes magazine as the third richest ruler in the world

It has asked Damascus to surrender the money for fear it is used by Ba'ath Party diehards to pay for attacks on coalition troops in Iraq, the official told Time magazine.

With tension between the two countries rising dramatically, Syria has publicly denied the accusation. But it is said to have claimed privately that unnamed accounts have been frozen.

Since Saddam's downfall, the US has been hunting for the billions he is believed to have hidden away.

He was once named by Forbes magazine as the third richest ruler in the world, eclipsed only by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and the Sultan of Brunei.

But experts believe his fortune was much reduced as, like many tyrants, he needed to spend great amounts to sustain his aura of power. Sanctions also ate away at his sources of cash.

US-Syrian relations have plunged since the war, with Washington accusing Damascus of harbouring Ba'athists, hiding evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and pursuing a banned weapons programme.

[dighton]

Asked politely, or else.

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[wardaddy]

Syria needs to be neutralized or rattled heavily. It would be a two-fer.....reducing terr power in Lebanon too (and giving the Christians an excuse there to clean a little house) and also rattle Iran as well....since they know they are on the list next.

I wonder how many of the military powers behind the boy king are willing to go down with the ship in a confrontation with us.

[yonif]

Syria is a terrorist state which sponsors, harbors, and sends terrorists to kill Americans and Israelis, and illegaly occupies Lebanon.

[sheik yerbouty]

Splish, splash, Asaad's takin' a Baath...

[wardaddy]

Well, we are already there and we know the Baathists in Syria are helping their defeated brothers in Iraq.

Let's shake and bake.

[claudiustg]

"Syria needs to be neutralized or rattled heavily."

The Syrian's know the fix they're in. They know they just have to give up. Make a deal! If they give us everything we want, we won't let Sharon humiliate them!

[Rutles4Ever]

Saddam: Haffez, hide these weapons.

Assad: For free???

Saddam: Ummmm... three billion until I can sort this out?

[Reb Raider]

I think they know that Bush is not in a strong position to do anything too drastic right now. I have thought about some of our Special Forces going in and causing some pain in the middle of the night, but the State Dept. would promptly inform the U.N. and BBC and Hillary would leak intel from the intelligence committee about it if her buddies at the CIA didn't beat her to it.

I sincerely believe the dems not arguing on issues, but instead calling Bush a lier and saying that he made up the seriousness of WMD and turning public opinion against Iraq is giving aid and comfort to the enemy and causing them to kill more of our soldiers.

I find the dems lust for power cowardly and unpatriotic. They don't,for the most part,have a sincere disagreement with the war as evidenced by their speeches when Clinton was in office. I wish they would say 'no progress in Iraq' in front of the soldiers out there working their tails off with little recognition.

[Starrgaizr]

I agree with Reb. The Syrians don't have to give up anything. WHat are the chances that U.S. forces will overrun Syria? We set an unhelpful precedent with Iraq: The U.S. will use force only after a specific Congressional authorization to attack the specific country and only after months trying to get the U.N on board. If we didn't sweep in in April, we won't do it now.

I wish that on Sep. 12. 2001 we had made a general declaration of war on the Taliban regime of Afghanistan and all other governments that support terrorism. Congress would have voted yes.

[Rockitz]

Syria is on the list. We'll get to them.

1. Afghanistan

2. Iraq

3. Iran

4. Syria

5. North Korea

.

.

.

[Darksheare]

And "Ooops, it's already been spent" bump.