IS TONY FOR TURNING?:

Britain tries to build bridges between Syria, US (Reuters, 14 Apr 2003)

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, trying to build bridges between Syria and a tough-talking United States, began a Gulf Arab tour on Monday stressing the need for dialogue with Damascus.

U.S. leaders, on a roll after toppling the Iraqi government and smashing its army in a stunning show of military might, have bombarded Syria with accusations of harbouring Iraqi leaders and chemical weapons.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged Washington on Monday to tone down its rhetoric, saying it would be better to make "constructive statements" that would help lower tension in the region.

Israel, moving quickly to take advantage of the U.S. pressure on its hostile neighbour, weighed in with a list of demands of its own, focusing on Syria's alleged support for guerrilla groups that have long been a thorn in Israel's flesh.

Syria, which strongly opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq, has rejected specific U.S. charges about sending military equipment to Iraq, but remained silent on others.

Straw, speaking in Bahrain at the start of a four-nation tour, said Britain and the United States had no intention of invading Syria after Iraq, but Damascus had "important questions" to answer.

"As far as 'Syria on the list', we made clear that it is not," he told reporters. "There is no next list."

"What is important...is for Syria fully to cooperate over these questions that have been raised about the fact that some fugitives from Iraq may well have fled into Syria and other matters including whether they have in fact been developing any kind of...chemical or biological programmes," he told BBC radio.

Hopefully the Brits are just playing "good cop", because Syria's unlikely to eschew Ba'athism except at the barrel of a gun. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 14, 2003 9:47 AM