ROME - Damascus is "essential to the peace process" in the Middle East and Iraq as well as in the fight against terrorism, Syrian President Bashar al Assad said in an interview published here Monday, rejecting Washington's "rhetoric" against his country.
"We are essential to the peace process, for Iraq. You will see, maybe one day the Americans will knock on our door," Assad told the Italian daily La Repubblica. | "Knock, kick in, blow down....." |
"Europe knows that our first interest is stability, and it knows that we know how to fight terrorism," Assad said.
Again rejecting accusations that Damascus had a hand in the killing two weeks ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, he said: "If we really killed Hariri, that would be political suicide for us. Beyond ethical and human principles, the question is, who benefits from the crime? Certainly not Syria."
Assad told La Repubblica that Washington's rhetoric against Damascus is reminiscent of the saber-rattling that preceded the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
"The language of the White House leads one to predict a campaign like that that preceded the conflict against Saddam," he said. "Will we be the next target of Israel and the White House? All of this has been written for a long time. Iraq was the first phase, then it will be Iran's and Syria's turn. But it's not a given that things will go that way." | True, it looks like you've moved into first place |
The Syrian leader said he had offered to help the United States in the fight against terrorism, adding: "Sooner or later it will realize that we are the key to the solution."
| Truer words were never spoken.... |
Washington accuses Syria of backing terrorist groups operating in Iraq and Israel and of destabilizing Lebanon by its military presence there. Assad said Syria would withdraw its troops, which are in Lebanon under a bilateral accord, "when there is stable peace there."
Keeping troops in Lebanon "is not in the interests" of Damascus, he said. "It has a high price not just in economic terms but also political. But what is in play is very important: Lebanon's stability and that of our borders. "Technically, we can withdraw our troops before the end of the year. Strategically, that can take place only if we obtain serious guarantees - in other words, peace," he said. |