DAMASCUS, May 3: US Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed on Saturday a Syrian UN proposal to make the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), but said Washington shared the goal in principle.
Powell, speaking to reporters here before heading into talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, signalled that Washington regarded the proposal as “political” and would not support it.
“It has always been a United States goal that conditions should be created in this part of the world where no nation would have a need for weapons of mass destruction,” he said.
“I am not supportive at the moment of a particular declaration that might be put forward for political purposes or to highlight the issue,” Powell said.
“It remains an overall US objective that we would like to see the region free from weapons of mass destruction,” he added.
Syria made the proposal in response to US allegations it is developing chemical weapons and in an effort to renew Arab objections to Israel’s undeclared but widely known nuclear arms programs.
The Syrian proposal, made last month at the United Nations is not new. The idea of establishing a nuclear-free-weapons zone in the Middle East was raised by Iran and by Egypt in the 1970s and has been endorsed by annual resolutions in the UN General Assembly since 1980.
In 1995, states that had ratified the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty called for a WMD-free zone in the Middle East. Adoption of the resolution making that call was one of the conditions for indefinitely extending the NPT.
But there are fundamental obstacles to setting up such a zone, among them Israel’s failure even to sign, let alone ratify, the NPT, and its refusal to discuss details of its nuclear arsenal.
Arab states say the creation of a WMD-free zone would help create a climate of confidence, and thus substantially contribute to the search for comprehensive peace in their region.
Israel, on the other hand, says states must recognise each other in peace treaties before a zone can be established. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries to have signed such treaties with Israel.
PALESTINIAN GROUPS: The US Secretary of State said Syria had started to rein in militant Palestinian groups, after he delivered a tough message to President Bashar al Assad that Damascus must adapt to the new strategic situation brought about by the fall of the Iraqi government.
Mr Powell also stressed Washington’s commitment to brokering a comprehensive peace in the region, and voiced cautious optimism that recent changes would help revive a political process between Israelis and Palestinians.
Following talks with President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in Beirut in the wake of his visit to Syria, Mr Powell told reporters he had also stressed the need for an end to the presence of the Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
And he implicitly called for Syria to end its dominance of its smaller neighbour.
“We have emphasized strongly our concern about the continuing terrorist activities of Hezbollah in the region and around the world,” he said.
“It is time we believe for the Lebanese army to deploy to the border and end the armed Hezbollah militia presence,” he added, saying it was important to maintain calm along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Responding to a question on whether the Syrians had acted against the offices of militant Palestinian groups in Damascus, a long-standing US demand, he said, “they did closures”.
“I expect them to do more with respect to the access and appearances of various officials of these organizations,” he added, saying he had made some suggestions to the Syrians on this issue.
Syria dominates Lebanon and backs Hezbollah, as well as certain Palestinian groups which Mr Powell called “rejectionist”.
Questioned on his talks earlier in the day with Mr Assad, the top US diplomat said they had discussed weapons of mass destruction, Syrian support to Hezbollah and humanitarian issues.—AFP
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