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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Allawi demands Syria hand over Baathists |
| 2005-01-01 |
| Iraqi PM Iyad Allawi sent a letter to the President Bashar al-Assad on Friday, urging him to handover Saddam's loyalists, saying that they are disrupting security in Iraq. In his message, the Iraqi PM said that it was 'disgraceful' that loyalists of the toppled Iraqi president were abusing the hospitality accorded to them in Syria. However, Allawi stressed that he does not mean that those officials were working with the approval of the Syrian government. Yet he urged the Syrian government to hand over those, he says are harming Iraq. Allawi claimed that he has evidence that former Iraqi officials are living in Syria and carrying out what he called 'terrorist acts'. "There are elements that abuse hospitality accorded to them, whether in Syria or elsewhere. They seek to harm Iraq and the Iraqi people. I wrote letters, including one to [Syrian] President Assad, in which I explained the issue to him," Al-Arabiya Arabic TV station quoted Allawi as saying. Meanwhile, hardline Islamists vowed to target Iraq's elections, just weeks away, as Allawi declared that Iraq's future lay with democracy. In the dawn of 2005, the opposing visions of Iraq offered by Allawi, a vocal advocate of next month's polls, and fundamentalist hardliners revealed the high stakes in the war-torn country. Allawi delivered his thoughts on state-owned Al-Iraqiya television, in a light blue shirt and a brick red tie in front of a row of books and an Iraqi flag. "The new year will be decisive in the history of our nation and its future," he said. "I wish my good nation a happy New Year and I hope it brings to Iraqis and the whole world happiness, prosperity and stability God willing," he said. His speech was laced with images of Baghdad and ordinary people strolling in busy markets to mellow music. "There will be no true economic growth if we do not rid ourselves of the old ways," said Allawi. "Economic and political progress require a democratic environment." The three-minute message seemed like it was taped in Allawi's office in the fortified Green Zone, home to the interim government and the U.S. embassy. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 Between Allawi and Armitage, it appears that the Syrians are running out of time to clean house. |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-01-01 7:46:37 PM |
| #1 Nice try, oh how Saddam loyalists are abusing the hospitality....next time saying it with targeted bombing, much more impact. |
| Posted by: Capt America 2005-01-01 7:39:04 PM |