White House blames Senator's visit to Syria
15/12/2006 16:55
The White House criticized yesterday Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's trip to
Syria, saying it was not only inappropriate, but that it also gave undue
legitimacy to a government that is thwarting democratic reform in the Middle
East.
The trip by Nelson, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign
Relations Committees, and future visits to Syria expected by Senators John Kerry
and Christopher Dodd, both Democrats, and Arlen Specter, a Republican, send an
unhelpful, mixed message to the Syrians, White House spokesman Tony Snow said at
a news briefing.
"We want to make sure that they understand that just because
they have visitors does not mean that the position of the United States
government has changed," Snow said.
Nelson, who traveled to Syria on
Wednesday, defended his trip. He told National Public Radio on Thursday that
despite White House objections to his meeting with Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad, he believed his outreach to Damascus was in keeping with
recommendations of Iraq Study Group on forging the way forward in Iraq.
The
bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended in its report last week that the Bush
administration engage in direct talks with Syria, but President George W. Bush
has reacted coolly to that suggestion.
The United States accuses Syria of
undermining Lebanese sovereignty and allowing weapons and fighters to cross its
border into Iraq in support of the anti-US insurgency there, but the Syrian
government denies the allegations.
Xinhua
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