Further nuclear inquiry needed in Syria

Gulf News report (Agencies) September 22, 2008
Further nuclear inquiry needed in Syria:

Vienna: Further inquiry may be needed into suspected nuclear sites in Syria, diplomats said on Sunday, adding however, that the results did not rule out nuclear activity.

The International Atomic Energy Agency began investigating Syria in April based on US intelligence suggesting a remote desert complex targeted by Israel was a reactor almost completed with North Korean help and designed to make plutonium for atom bombs.

Preliminary results of environmental samples did not have traces of carbon or maraging steel that would have indicated a graphite reactor, diplomats familiar with the inquiry said.

Complete results are expected in November, but they may not be conclusive either, they said.

However, Syria may have buried traces of a suspected nuclear reactor at a site bombed by Israel a year ago, diplomats said.

“This doesn't mean there was nothing there, just that the inspectors did not (or could not) search the right places," a senior diplomat, who asked for anonymity due to political sensitivities, said.

"Syria laid a big slab of concrete over it (ground where the alleged reactor stood) after digging a hole. Ideally the IAEA should be able to examine the chunks of debris but the feeling is that the Syrians may have dumped all of it down the hole.”

Russian Ships in Syrian Port Soon

September 13, 2008 //RPS Staff // - Three weeks after Assad visited Moscow in an attempt to bolster a new Cold war era, Itar-Tass, the Russian news agency announced yesterday that  it will station part of its Black Sea fleet in Tartous, in the Syrian coast of the Mediterranean.

Preparations at the port to welcome the ships have already started according to Itar-Tass. No mention of what types of ships will dock in Tartous or their load.

A warm water port has been a target of Russia going back to the Soviet Union. Unlike his father, who toyed with the idea as a playing card, Assad son, as he has shown he is capable with rash and impulsive decisions, has taken the plunge thus risking Syria’s future by framing its geography between two giants at odds in their foreign policy.

In an interview given to the Kommersant Russian newspaper prior to his meetings with Medevdev, Assad invited Russia to station its arsenal in Syria as a counter measure to the defense shield recently agreed upon between the United States and Poland. The US State Department was not happy by Assad’s interview and responded harshly to his lack of judgment.

Source: RPS Staff @ September 13, 2008
http://reformsyria.org/?p=1270
 

Arab League summit faces a sea of troubles

FT report by Roula Khalaf March 26 2006:

Arab leaders who gather for yearly summits have enough trouble dealing with the Middle East’s running disputes. But this week’s Arab League meeting in Khartoum takes place amid a build-up of crises that have left the region even more turbulent than usual, and the search for a meaningful consensus among leaders more elusive.

“Normally you have one or two problems in the region that are complicating things – Palestine and another issue,” says a senior Arab official. “We’re now at a point where we have five big issues and we don’t know how governments can juggle them. The region has never experienced so many problems at the same time.”

Excluding the conflict in Darfur – which will have to be addressed at a summit hosted by Sudan – governments are grappling with the victory of the Islamist Hamas in the occupied Palestinian territories and the continued deadlock in the peace process with Israel; the sectarian bloodshed in Iraq; the deterioration in relations between Lebanon and Syria; the Iran nuclear crisis; and the continued threat of terrorism.

Many of the problems feed into each other. Trouble in Iran and Syria complicates matters in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon – countries where Tehran and Damascus can count on the support of radical groups.

The deepening Sunni-Shia divide in Iraq, meanwhile, is at risk of spreading to other parts of the region, including Lebanon, where tensions between the pro-Syrian Shia leaders and anti-Syrian Sunni have intensified.

Iraq has also become a breeding ground for a new generation of Arab jihadis, who governments fear will take their fight back to their home countries.

No one is under the illusion that an Arab summit can provide solutions to the region’s woes – rarely do the moderate and hardline states craft a consensus that survives beyond the day’s declarations. Some problems are too sensitive to even discuss.

For example, Arab governments are alarmed by Iran’s suspected ambitions to develop nuclear weapons, yet they hesitate to openly criticise Tehran when Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal escapes western scrutiny.

Starting tomorrow, the day of the Israeli elections, the Khartoum meeting’s most immediate concern is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In a strange coincidence, Arab League leaders met at Khartoum in the wake of the Arab defeat in the 1967 war. Then they issued the famous three “Nos” – no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel. This time, Arab leaders are looking for ways to convince Hamas to say yes to peace, negotiations, and recognition. Western governments, which have warned Hamas of a cut in international aid, want the summit to raise pressure on the Islamist group. Arab diplomats, however, say the meeting will call for continued political and financial support to the Palestinian Authority, of which Hamas is a big part.

At the same time, the summit will reiterate the commitment of Arab League members to the Beirut initiative, adopted in 2002 and calling for peace with Israel if it withdraws from land occupied in 1967.

Arab governments are hoping Hamas will sign up to the initiative, as a face-saving way of accepting a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and easing international pressure. Yet Hamas officials do not appear ready to embrace the peace plan.

The US and Britain are also looking for the summit to promote greater Arab engagement with Iraq and counter Iranian influence. The Arab League is planning a second national reconciliation conference, following up last year’s Cairo meeting between Iraqi factions. But, though desperate to contain a sectarian conflict that could drag in all the neighbours, Arab officials say it is not clear what more the region could do for Iraq.

With more problems flaring up than the Middle East can handle, Arab governments have been urging Syria and Lebanon to avoid confrontation, against mounting tension since last year’s assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. A UN investigation is still looking into Syria’s alleged role in the killing but Damascus denies involvement.

The crisis has strained relations between Lebanese political factions, some of whom are still allied with Syria. Over the past month, political leaders have held a conference to defuse tension. But so far the talks have failed to resolve the key demand of anti-Syrian politicians – the removal of pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud from office.

Now the anti-Syrian majority in parliament is looking to Egypt and Saudi Arabia for help. Little, however, is expected to emerge from the summit, where Mr Lahoud represents Lebanon.

Amarji - A Heretic's Blog

Amarji - A Heretic's Blog by Syrian author Ammar Abdulhamid located in Maryland, USA.

[via Captain Marlow's post on Iran and Syria]

It is 'showtime' for Syria - UK

BBC report 4 Jan 2006 - excerpt:

The current international pressure on Syria is "entirely deserved" and it is now "showtime" for its president, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says.

He said a Syrian official's claims that President Assad had threatened Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri before his murder were "very serious indeed."

Mr Straw was speaking to the BBC as he started a visit to Lebanon, which has been dominated for decades by Syria.

He said Lebanon was now at a very important crossroads for its future.

A UN investigation into Mr Hariri's death in a massive car bomb in Beirut in February 2005 has implicated Syria, which denies involvement.

On Monday, UN investigators announced they wanted to interview the Syrian president about the assassination. There has been no official response so far.

At the weekend, former Syrian Vice-President Abdul Halim Khaddam alleged President Bashar Assad had made threats to Mr Hariri months before his death.

Mr Assad has pledged to co-operate with the UN investigation, and has allowed some Syrian officials to be questioned.

The murder caused such outrage that Syria was forced to pull all its troops out of Lebanon.

"The pressure on the Syrian regime now is much stronger now than it's been for decades," Mr Straw said.

Syria implicated in death of Hariri

A United Nations report that accuses Syrian and Lebanese officials of orchestrating an intricate plot to kill former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is expected to bring a swift call for action from the UN Security Council. Reuters reports that both Syria and Lebanese President Emile Lahood are trying to distance themselves from the UN investigation.

Full story (Instapundit) 21 Oct 2005.

Syria expects support at Arab summit

Regional leaders gather in Algiers amid Mideast uncertainty. The following report compiled by Lebanon's Daily Star staff Tuesday, March 22, 2005:

Syria expects Arab leaders meeting in Algiers to urge Washington to hold talks with Syrian leaders and to offer formal support against "American pressures" and sanctions, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Monday. Following an announcement that Syrian President Bashar Assad would attend the Algiers meet, Moallem said in an interview that he expects the Arab League summit opening Tuesday to endorse a draft resolution backing his country. Arab diplomats, he said, were circulating the draft ahead of the meeting.

The draft "expresses the solidarity of Arab countries with Syria in the face of American pressures as well as their rejection of the so-called Syria Accountability Act," Moallem said, referring to U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria last year.

It "also calls on the United States to engage in a constructive dialogue with Syria," he added.

Arab leaders began gathering in the Algerian capital Monday on the eve of the two-day summit, which is also expected to endorse a resolution to revive a three-year-old initiative for peace with Israel.

The summit will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the 22-member Arab League and comes at a time of continued violence, political tensions and uncertainty in the Middle East.

The U.S.-led occupation of Iraq has entered its third year as the first elected parliament in 50 years struggles to form a postwar government for the violence-riddled country.

The Palestinian-Israeli peace process is on a fragile track forward after the landmark summit last month between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during which they agreed on a truce.

Sudan has been put on notice by the UN to end the deadly civil war in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

Relations between Iraq and its pro-Western neighbor Jordan are in crisis as both governments withdrew their envoys on Sunday following a wave of protests over the alleged involvement of a Jordanian in a deadly suicide bombing.

Globally the Arab countries are pressed by the West, and their own populations, to step up a commitment made last year to engage in a series of political, economic and social reform.

And Syria is facing huge international pressure to cease its domination over neighboring Lebanon and complete a troop withdrawal before legislative elections due there in May.

Backing from the Arab League would be a boost for Syria in the face of the mounting international pressure.

The U.S. economic sanctions were imposed because of Syria's alleged support of the insurgency in Iraq and of terrorism - both charges Syria denies.

Pressure for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon has grown since the February 14 assassination of Lebanese former Premier Rafik Hariri in a massive bombing and subsequent anti-Syrian street protests in Lebanon.

Syria has denied any involvement in Hariri's murder but has pulled troops and intelligence agents back to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley and to Syria.

Moallem said neither a Syrian troop withdrawal nor UN Resolution 1559, which called for a pullout, are on the agenda for the Arab summit.

"This is a bilateral matter that has been agreed on" between Lebanon and Syria, he said.

Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud will not attend the summit, citing the political turmoil at home.

He is one of several Arab leaders who decided to skip the summit, including Jordan's King Abdullah II, whose country has proposed the revival of the peace initiative with Israel.

Earlier this month the king told Israeli television that Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia would relaunch the plan to ensure that it was better received by Israelis.

The last Saudi-inspired initiative was rejected by Israel when it was first put on the table at the Beirut summit in 2002.

Arab League spokesman Hossam Zaki said that "Jordan presented a document aiming at reactivating, promoting and marketing the Arab initiative for peace, by submitting a precise and concise form."

"This document was examined by the delegates who introduced a few additions in a way to please everybody and this is what was adopted," he said.

The three-point draft offers Israel the chance to normalize ties with the Arab countries in exchange for a total pullout from land it conquered in 1967 and later annexed.

It also insists that an independent Palestinian state, a solution to Palestinian refugees and their right to return are among key Arab demands.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was the first leader to arrive in Algiers Monday, pitching a tent to receive guests outside a five-star hotel just outside the Algerian capital, followed in the afternoon by outgoing Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar.

The presidents of Sudan and Mauritania, Omar Bashir and Maaouiya Ould Taya, as well as Abbas were among those who also arrived Monday. - Agencies

Syria to redeploy Lebanon troops

Syria is under unprecedented pressure to withdraw, says the BBC in a report March 5, 2005. Here is a copy:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has announced the phased redeployment of Syrian forces in Lebanon.

Addressing Syria's parliament, Mr Assad said troops would withdraw to the eastern Bekaa Valley and then to the Syrian border.

The US said Mr Assad's pledge was "not enough" and called for a full pull-out.

Syria has been under intense pressure to withdraw from Lebanon since the February car bomb death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanon's main opposition leader, Walid Jumblatt, called Mr Assad's announcement a "positive start" but demanded a clear timetable for the withdrawal.

In the Lebanese capital Beirut, members of the public jeered as they watched the broadcast in a central square.

In the nationally-televised speech, Mr Assad said: "We will not stay one day if there was Lebanese consensus on the departure of Syria.

"Our way is a gradual and organised withdrawal."

He said after the redeployment, Lebanon and Syria "will have fulfilled our obligations under the Taef accord and under [UN Security Council] Resolution 1559".

The 1989 Taef accord, which ended the Lebanese civil war, calls for a phased withdrawal of Syrian troops, beginning with redeployment to the Bekaa Valley, while the 2004 UN resolution calls for foreign forces to leave Lebanon.

Mr Assad said Syria was not against a full withdrawal, declaring: "The natural place for Syrian forces is Syrian land."

The president called Mr Hariri's killing "an atrocious crime... against the unity and stability of Lebanon as well as Syria", and vowed to bring the culprits to justice.

The US, however, said Mr Assad's announcement was "not enough".

"As President Bush said Friday, when the United States and France say withdraw, we mean complete withdrawal - no half-hearted measures," the state department said in a statement.

But shortly after Mr Assad's speech, a senior Syrian minister said Syria would pull all its troops back into Syrian territory.

"The matter is very clear. When an army withdraws it withdraws to inside the country's border," Syrian Immigrant Affairs Minister Buthaina Shaaban told Lebanese television.

"The political decision has been taken for a complete withdrawal," she said, adding that it will take place "in the nearest possible time".

Mr Assad's hour-long speech was punctuated by cheers from legislators and thousands of flag-waving Syrians watching on giant television screens outside parliament.

In Beirut, about 1,000 Lebanese watching the speech in a central square shouted "Syria out!" and denounced the Syrian president.

The BBC's Kim Ghattas, who is in the Lebanese capital, says what has mostly upset people here is the tone used by Mr Assad.

She says opposition figures said there were many veiled threats in the speech and hints that Syria could still use violence to crush the anti-Syrian movement.

Exiled Lebanese Christian opposition figure Michel Aoun expressed scepticism about Mr Assad's intentions.

"I call on the Lebanese to be very careful about the wording and not to be happy over the general meaning," he told Al-Arabiya television in Paris.

Syria's arch foe, Israel, said Mr Assad's remarks "constituted an evasion" of the UN resolution.

Israeli Vice-Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Israel could open peace talks with Lebanon if Syria withdrew.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4322089.stm

Aljazeera: U.S. intelligence sources say the Pentagon is in favour of air strikes on Syria

The following is a copy of editorial at Aljazeera.com 3/5/2005:

The American sponsored television station Al Hurra reported that the Pentagon is now convinced that air strikes on Syria have to be taken in order to overthrow the Assad regime, pullback Syrian troops from Lebanon and stop Damascus's alleged support of anti-occupation fighters in Iraq.

"Political action to deal with the problem of Syria's presence in Lebanon and its support of  (anti-occupation rebels)…in Iraq is no longer deemed effective," American intelligence sources are reported to have said, according to slain ex-Premier Hariri's Al Mustaqbal newspaper on Friday.

"Diplomacy as a means to deal with countries supporting (rebels) is over and out. The situation is now open to all eventualities as far as Syria is concerned."

"Resolving problems with Syria now requires changing the Syrian regime or mounting air attacks similar to those staged against Afghanistan and Sudan in August 1998 to wipe out terrorist centers once and for all," the U.S. intelligence sources were quoted as saying.

"The U.S. central command for Iraq and Afghanistan is closely following the situation in Lebanon and Syria and senior Pentagon officials are now convinced that hitting...targets in Syria is necessary," Al Hurra said.

Adding that "The elimination of Syrian-supported...groups is now deemed 'strategically vital' for stability in the Middle east, particularly Iraq, which is unattainable at present under the current Syrian regime."

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=7334

United in fear: a week of high-level inter-Arab meetings - Mauritania is current chair of Arab Council of FMs

Arab states are no longer fighting amongst themselves, they are just taking separate roads. Dina Ezzat reports on a week of high-level inter-Arab meetings, courtesy http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/708/re7.htm

Here is a copy, in full, for future reference [and for publishing a post at a later date on Mauritania, the current chair of the Arab Council of Foreign Ministers]

Unprecedentedly, the atmosphere at this week's meeting of Arab foreign ministers was non-confrontational. A notable departure from typical inter- Arab gatherings.

This time around there were no rows about the relations between the United States-imposed Iraqi government and its neighbours, or about the Palestinian attempts to pursue deals with Israel separately from Syria and Lebanon, or yet again about the military facilities that many of the Arab Gulf states have been generously providing for their American friends.

"This is really unusual. I have been attending Arab foreign ministers meetings for close to 20 years -- since the Cairo Arab League headquarters resumed operation in the early 1980s -- and I have never witnessed such a [none-contentious] meeting," said one Arab League official.

For this official and many Arab diplomats the pacific nature of this week's meeting of Arab foreign ministers, and of the meeting of Arab ministers of economy -- under the umbrella of the Arab Economic and Social Council -- which preceded it, should not be read as an indication of a new-found unity of purpose.

"Not at all. It is just that we have given up hoping to do anything, or for that matter to say anything," said one permanent representative to the Arab League. He elaborated that rather than attempt to bridge the deep chasms dividing them, the Arab states seem to have conceded that these are insurmountable.

The dividing line, he went on to explain, is delineated by the nature of relations with the US. "Some of us have more than strategic ties with the US while some others are still being viewed by the US as enemies. And at the end of the day we are all afraid of the US, either out of fear of military intervention and economic sanctions, or because of the military and security dependence that some Arab countries have on the US."

Such caving in to a regional Pax Americana is ominous, suggest a number of Arab diplomats, one described it as "disturbing and indicative of the disintegration of the Arab regional system".

The Arab foreign ministers meeting served as a venue for maintaining a semblance of agreement on the non- controversial issues.

The contentious issues, however, are being aired at sub-regional forums, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council (grouping Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman). Moreover, it appears that the Arab states are increasingly pursuing their strategic interests -- especially those related to overall regional security arrangements -- away from the umbrella of the Arab League.

On the eve of the Arab foreign ministers meeting Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohamed Al-Sobbah, speaking on behalf of the GCC, made an unprecedented call upon Syria to pull out its troops out of Lebanon.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Al-Moashar, whose country shares the GCC's close relationship with the US, took a similar line. In a statement he made before arriving in Cairo, he said Amman was expecting Syria to respond to the demands made by UN Security Council Resolution 1559. The resolution calls on Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon.

For their part, neither the Syrian nor the Lebanese delegations asked for the Arab foreign ministers meeting to adopt a stance against this resolution.

The joint Syrian-Lebanese demand was for an Arab resolution that indicates support for both countries in the face of any potential aggression.

Syrian diplomats were "working very hard to structure a new relationship with the US on the basis of mutual cooperation on regional security matters in Iraq on one hand and Syria- Lebanon-Palestine, on the other" said one Arab diplomat. Damascus was not expecting Arab foreign ministers to take a stance against the harsh US anti- Syrian rhetoric.

Neither was Iraqi Foreign Minister Houchiar Zibari very insistent on having the Arab states meet his government's request for military, security and diplomatic support.

Implied criticism of the interim Iraqi government during the meeting failed to illicit a reaction from Zibari. At one point, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa remarked that the "the gates of hell have been opened in Iraq," pointedly looking towards Zibari. Visibly upset, the Iraqi foreign minister, nevertheless, did not respond.

Nor did he react much to statements made by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, during a joint press conference, in which he categorically denied that Cairo had any plans to send troops to Iraq. "Our forces [will not go to Iraq] to [shoot at] the Iraqi people, and we cannot accept our sons to be shot at in Iraq," said Abul- Gheit.

The Iraqi minister, however, seemed satisfied with the resolution adopted by Arab foreign ministers that calls for "a wider Arab presence" in Iraqi affairs.

Mauritania, the current chair of the Arab Council of Foreign Ministers, refrained from bringing up its dispute with Libya over an alleged attempt by Tripoli to overthrow the Nouakchott regime and publicly shrugged off a standing Libyan request for the Arab League to look into these claims.

Similar nonchalance with regards to a collective Arab position was shown by Sudan, over the crisis in Darfur, as well as by both the Egyptians and Palestinians over developments on the Palestinian-Israeli front.

Instead, on the fringe of the pan-Arab meetings, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath held separate meetings with European, US and UN officials, including US Under Secretary of State William Burns and UN Envoy to the Middle East Terry Larsen. Some Arab foreign ministers were briefed on the outcome of these meetings.

"We have said so much. The situation is very clear to everybody and we have so many plans, but what we need [now] is to get out of the current prolonged phase of Arab inaction," Shaath said.

The Americans and the Europeans urged the Arab states to take political reform more seriously. But neither of the two meetings introduced any collective Arab plans aimed at pursuing political reform.

"It is very obvious that Arab countries are not in agreement either over political reform or the notion of the Greater Middle East, as propounded by the US. It is also very clear that they do not want to argue much about it amongst themselves," said one Arab diplomat who attended the discussion on the Greater Middle East.

The few resolutions adopted collectively in relation to regional security were confined to coordination on preparations for the 2005 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty and on two conferences related to non-proliferation of small arms.

Prickly issues such as concerns over a possible US strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, threats of sanctions against Syria and Sudan, and the security implications of the expanding role of NATO in the region were not brought up.

Arab foreign ministers will start flying to New York for the General Assembly meeting as of early next week.

Additional reporting by Reem Nafie and Magda El-Ghitany. [Note photo appears in article: Clockwise from top left: Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara; Libyan and Lebanese foreign ministers Abdel-Rahman Shalgam and Jean Obeid; Iraq's Houchiar Zibari ; and his Sudanese counterpart Mostafa Othman Ismail]

Syria tested chemical arms on civilians in Sudan's Darfur?

A while back, in my main blog, I published a post reporting that chemicals may have been dropped by air in the Sudan. If I recall correctly, the post was about a reporters interview with a Sudanese civilian who claimed to have knowledge of bags of white powder appearing on the ground that proved poisonous. When I find the report, I will link it here.

Last week, a rush of news reports appeared online, emanating the German daily Die Welt that claimed Syria tested chemical weapons on civilians in Darfur in June and killed dozens of poeple. Here is an excerpt, courtesy Sudan Tribune:

BERLIN, Sept 14 (AFP) -- Syria tested chemical weapons on civilians in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region in June and killed dozens of people, the German daily Die Welt claimed in an advance release of its Wednesday edition.

The newspaper, citing unnamed western security sources, said that injuries apparently caused by chemical arms were found on the bodies of the victims.

It said that witnesses quoted by an Arabic news website called ILAF [www.elaph.com] in an article on August 2 had said that several frozen bodies arrived suddenly at the "Al-Fashr Hospital" in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in June.

Die Welt said the sources had indicated that the weapons tests were undertaken following a military exercise between Syria and Sudan.

Syrian officers were reported to have met in May with Sudanese military leaders in a Khartoum suburb to discuss the possibility of improving cooperation between their armies.

According to Die Welt, the Syrians had suggested close cooperation on developing chemical weapons, and it was proposed that the arms be tested on the rebel SPLA, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, in the south.

But given that the rebels were involved in peace talks, the newspaper continued, the Sudanese government proposed testing the arms on people in Darfur.

Details of what were in the weapons were not disclosed.

The Sudanese government has been accused of arming and backing Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, which have rampaged through the western Darfur region for the past 19 months.

An estimated 50,000 people have been killed and 1.4 million more uprooted in a campaign against Darfur's black African population, which began in February 2003 when Khartoum and the Janjaweed cracked down on a rebel uprising.

The United States has accused Syria of trying to acquire materials and the know-how to develop chemical weapons and claims that Sudan has been seeking to improve its capability to produce them for many years.

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=5432
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Syria chemical arms tested on civilians?

Here is a copy, in full, of a report by Aaron Klein at WorldNetDaily.com

Syria, which has long denied maintaining a chemical or biological weapons arsenal, reportedly tested chemical weapons on civilians in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region in June, killing dozens of people.

Injuries caused by chemical arms were found on the bodies of the victims, according to unnamed sources quoted by the German daily Die Welt newspaper and witnesses who talked with the Arab news ILAF last month.

Several frozen bodies arrived suddenly at the "Al-Fashr Hospital" in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in June, reported ILAF.

Die Welt said its sources had indicated the weapons tests were undertaken following a military exercise between Syria and Sudan after a meeting in May between Sudanese military leaders and Syrian officers in a Khartoum suburb to discuss the possibility of improving coordination between their armies.

After the Syrians reportedly suggested close cooperation on developing chemical weapons, it was proposed that the arms be tested on the rebel SPLA, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, in the south.

The Sudanese government then allegedly requested testing the chemicals on people in Darfur since they were involved in peace talks with the rebels.

As WorldNetDaily reported, the U.S. declared last week the rape, pillaging and slaughter of blacks in western Sudan by the Islamist Khartoum regime and its Arab militia allies is genocide, under the 1948 U.N. convention.

The reports are extremely damaging to Syria's Bashar Assad, who has been under international pressure after the recent passing of the Syrian Accountability Act in Congress, which accuses Damascus of supporting terror groups including Hezbollah, failing to stop anti-U.S. fighters from crossing into Iraq from Syria and maintaining 25,000 troops in Lebanon.

The White House also has accused Syria of having one of the most advanced chemical weapons programs in the Arab world, with stocks of the agents Sarin and VX.

Assad has drawn the ire of Israel as well for allowing the top leadership of Hamas to live openly in Damascus. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon blamed Syria, which harbors the overall leader of Hamas, Khalid Meshel, for a recent suicide bombing that killed 16 people in a southern Israeli city, and several Israeli officials have said the Jewish state plans to send a strong message to Assad.

In a recent WorldNetDaily exclusive interview, Syria's Ambassador to the UN Fayssel Mekdad denied his country has chemical weapons. "These are mere allegations and they cannot be substantiated," he said.

Mekdad also denied allegations Syria is aiding the insurgency against American troops in Iraq by allowing terrorists to pass through the Syrian border.

"I mean, not a single proof was given to Syria that we have helped, aided or supported elements that are carrying out attacks, or even giving them information from the Syrian side. I would like to confirm 100 percent for this interview that Syria has done nothing at all, and not a single proof has been given to us, not a single one," said Mekdad.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40454
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UPDATE: Sunday September 19, 2004:

Here is a copy of a post - from my main blog ME AND OPHELIA - dated Thursday, August 19, 2004:

GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS?
Villagers in Sudan describe poisoning

On August 17, 2004, the Washington Times published a report by Levon Sevunts. Here is an excerpt:

SHEGEK KARO, Sudan — Inhabitants of this picturesque village in the Darfur region of western Sudan said the Sudanese air force sprayed them with a strange powder in an attack in May that killed two villagers and dozens of cattle.

Another bomb, dropped by a jet fighter on the same day, produced a poisonous smoke that injured about 50 villagers on the other side of the village, the villagers said.

A Sudanese air force Antonov plane dropped several rectangular plastic sacks containing a white, flourlike powder on a wadi — a dry riverbed — in the lower part of the village, they said.

"This is the first time I'm hearing about this," a spokeswoman for Ambassador Khidir Haroun Ahmed said. She promised the embassy would look into the matter.

Israel escalates war of words with Syria: Israeli PM Sharon is said to be considering attacking Syria

For some months now, it is becoming apparent there is trouble brewing involving Syria. Today, after reading a September 2 report by Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank, entitled Israel escalates war of words with Syria, I have started up this blog for noting news reports concerning Syria. Other reports that help throw light on understanding what is going with on Syria are to be copied here in full for future reference.

Note, the aljazeera.net report, copied here below, states: "Israeli PM Sharon is said to be considering attacking Syria":

Israel is threatening to launch a military attack against Syria, accusing Damascus of indirect responsibility for the latest Palestinian attack in Israel.

The latest threat came from Israel's deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim, who warned that Israel ought to consider carrying out military action against targets inside Syria.

"The rule is that anybody who deals with terror against Israel is a target," Boim said during an interview with the Israeli state-run radio on Thursday.

He further suggested that any military strike against Syria would be a "mere message to the Syrians" and wouldn't "cause a conflagration".

"I believe that it is possible to carry out these attacks by correct selection of targets, in the correct dosage, placing the red lines that must be placed, without thinking in terms of  massive conflagration, which certainly is not in our interests," he said.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said on Thursday that the "launching of premature Israeli threats against Syria lacks the least degrees of credibility or evidence".

Boim's remarks followed a plethora of statements by Israeli political and military officials, warning that Israel should or would attack Syria in reprisal for Tuesday's attack in Beir al-Saba.

Israel claims to be in the possession of "intelligence information" linking Syria to the Hamas cell that carried out the attack.

However, Palestinian resistance sources said Tuesday's attack, which killed and injured scores of Israelis, was in retaliation to Israel's killing of two prominent Palestinian resistance leaders earlier this year.

Syrian denials

However, observers in Israel and the Occupied Territories are reluctant to give Israel the benefit of the doubt in this regard because Israel has not apprehended the members of the cell.

Israel's main piece of "evidence" so far is the fact that Syria hosts an information office for Hamas and that some Hamas representatives visit Syria from time to time.

Syria, which is in a state of war with Israel and whose Golan Heights are still occupied by the Israeli army, doesn't hide its support for the Palestinian struggle for freedom from Israeli occupation.

The bus bombings were the first Hamas strike in Israel for months

However, the Syrians repeatedly denied Israeli and US allegations that Palestinian resistance operations against Israel were being masterminded and planned on Syrian territory.

Israel seems intent on using the issue of Syria's alleged culpability in Tuesday's bus bombing as a pretext to mobilise US and European pressure on Damascus.

Effecting this campaign, Israeli officials have been in contact with the Netherlands, which  assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union, in an effort to get the EU to condemn Syria.

Moreover, Israel and its powerful supporters in Washington, are reportedly planning to present "intelligence information" indicting Syria, which Israel hopes would push the Bush administration to further escalate pressure on Damascus.

The US is already working through the UN Security Council for a resolution denouncing Syria for interfering in Lebanese internal affairs and demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country.

Israeli strikes

Syria and Hamas have denied Israeli accusations that the Damascus-based Hamas office masterminded the bus-bombing attack in Beir al Saba.

On Wednesday, Hamas officials in the West Bank labeled the accusations a "cheap distraction".

Syria has also rejected the accusations, vowing to respond to any kind to any "Israeli adventure".

Israel carried out an air strike on an erstwhile training camp belonging to an expatriate Palestinian resistance group outside Damascus last year.

Faruq al-Sharaa says Israeli threats lack credibility

Syria, whose military inferiority vis-à-vis Israel has further worsened following the US occupation of Iraq, did not retaliate then, saying Syria would not be dragged into a military confrontation with Israel and would choose the right time and place for a response.

However, the Syrians have hinted that any Israeli attack on Syria this time will be addressed.

The most likely scenario of a Syrian response to a possible Israeli attack would be to let Hizb Allah or Hamas retaliate on Syria's behalf.

Hamas has already warned that the movement would target Israeli targets abroad if Israel targeted Hamas' foreign-based leaders, including the Damascus-based representatives.

Hamas said the bus-bombing attack in Beir al Saba was a long-delayed retaliation for the assassination by Israel earlier this year of Hamas's two top leaders, Shaikh Ahmad Yasin and his successor Abd al-Aziz al Rantisi.

Hamas officials have also cited the killing by Israel of hundreds of Palestinians, most of them innocent civilians, during the five months preceding the latest bombing in Southern Israel, when neither Hamas nor any other Palestinian resistance group carried out any human-bombing attack against Israel.

Israel military sources say they have captured dozens of would-be bombers in the past few months, but has not provided evidence to support such claims.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
Courtesy New York Times, September 13, 2004

On Sept. 13, 1993, at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.