Free Republic

Syria on Wednesday demanded that Washington explain the U.S. Navy's search of two Syrian-registered merchant ships in its anti-terror campaign, blasting the operation as "an act of piracy". The U.S. Sixth Fleet on Sunday searched the ships, which it said had displayed "suspicious behaviour", off the coast of Cyprus, but later said it had found nothing suspicious on board. The issue of terror is a sore spot in relations between Damascus and Washington, which calls Syria a state sponsor of terrorism, and condemns Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrilla group and Palestinian militants who have Syrian backing. "The foreign ministry has summoned the ...