By Saul Hudson
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought to mobilize the
world's richest countries against Syria
on Thursday as part of an intensifying U.S.
campaign to isolate Damascus on the
international stage.
On a week-long trip to the Middle East and Europe that ended
on Thursday, Rice repeatedly accused Syria of fomenting instability in Lebanon,
doing too little to stop insurgents crossing into Iraq and supporting
anti-Israel militant groups.
Rice pushed the issue of Syria
at a Group of Eight gathering in London,
according to diplomats.
In public appearances before and after the meeting, the top U.S.
diplomat stressed international concerns at what Washington
terms Syria's
destabilizing role in the Middle East.
Rice said Syria
had pledged to curb insurgents entering Iraq
but she demanded results.
"Let's have action," she said at a news conference
with her counterparts at the end of the G8 meeting. "If they are prepared
to do it, they should just do it."
She also told reporters before the meeting she and French
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy discussed Syria
and "expressed concern ... about the need for Syria
to make certain all of its forces are withdrawn from Lebanon."
Standing alongside the top U.S.
diplomat, Douste-Blazy said: "We must not allow
that country to destabilize Lebanon."
Syria
bowed to global pressure to withdraw its troops from Lebanon
in April after anti-Syrian protests swept the country following the
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in a truck bombing in February.
The United Nations passed a U.S.-sponsored resolution
demanding Syria
withdraw its troops and intelligence agents. The world body says it cannot yet
prove that the agents have also left. Syria
denies its intelligence personnel are in Lebanon.
In a statement, the G8 said: "We call on Lebanon's
neighbors, in particular Syria,
to cooperate in ensuring full compliance with the (U.N. resolution) and to
contribute actively to regional security and stability."
ELECTION AFTERMATH
The concern about Syria's
activity in Lebanon
comes against the backdrop of an anti-Syrian alliance winning national
elections that were held for the first time in decades without a Syrian troop
presence.
Two senior State Department officials reinforced the U.S.
pressure by telling reporters on the sidelines of the G8 meeting Washington
was sure Syria
has kept intelligence agents in Lebanon.
The comments by the officials, who declined to be named,
went further than U.S.
public statements on Syria's
influence in its tiny neighbor.
"There is no question that Syrian intelligence agents
stayed behind," one of the officials told reporters.
Both officials denied that Washington's
reluctance to provide evidence for its assertions hindered U.S.
efforts at rallying support among its allies for its case against Syria.
Asked if any of the G8 countries were certain Syria
had not withdrawn its intelligence agents or bore some responsibility for
assassinations of anti-Syrian figures, neither Rice nor any of the other
foreign ministers made such assertions.
The French minister said there was doubt over whether they
had fully complied with U.N. demands and said the international community would
not tolerate more assassinations.
Japan,
France, Russia,
Britain, Germany,
Italy, Canada
and the United States
make up the G8.
6/24/05
Source: Reuters
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