US senators: Syria must change behavior
Syria must change its behavior if it wants its relations with Washington to change, two U.S. senators visiting the Middle East said Wednesday.
The visits by Democratic Sens. Benjamin Cardin, who met with Syria”s president Wednesday, and John Kerry, who was in neighboring Lebanon, come after President Barack Obama offered to engage countries that have been at odds with the United States.
They also come as Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published Wednesday he has been impressed by friendly gestures from Obama but was still waiting to see results.
U.S.-Syrian relations have long been tense, particularly since the U.S. ambassador was pulled out by the Bush administration in 2005 to protest Syria”s suspected role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Damascus denied involvement but in the uproar that followed was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence.
The United States has also criticized Syria for supporting militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and has accused Syria of not doing enough to prevent foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq. Syria has said it is doing all it can to safeguard its long, porous border.
After meeting with Assad, Cardin said the U.S. administration will be watching Syria”s actions "very carefully."
He said he blamed Syria for the deteriorated relations, saying Syria has isolated itself by sponsoring international terrorism, providing safe haven for terrorist organizations and Syria”s "troubling relations with Iran."
"The question we came to try and answer here in Syria is whether or not Syria is ready to make important and significant decisions that bring us closer rather than lose this opportunity to move forward," the Maryland senator said.
"Dialogue is important but actions speak louder than words, so we will be watching Syria”s actions very carefully over the next weeks and months," he added.
Speaking in Beirut, Kerry also said the U.S. would renew diplomacy with Syria but in return expected Syria to "change its behavior" — particularly on Iraq and Lebanon. Kerry, who heads the Senate”s Foreign Relations Committee and is expected to visit Syria later this week, said the U.S. also wants Syria to help with the disarmament of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
"We are going to renew diplomacy but without any illusions, without any naivete, without any misplaced belief that just by talking, things will automatically happen," the Massachusetts senator said after a meeting with the Lebanese president.
In the interview published Wednesday The Guardian newspaper, Assad said he would welcome the return of the U.S. ambassador and gestures like sending Congress members to Syria because they show "that this administration wants to see dialogue with Syria."
"We have the impression that this administration will be different, and we have seen the signals. But we have to wait for the reality and the results," the London-based paper quoted him as saying.