One of the main topics on the agenda of the Belfast summit meeting ended Tuesday, between U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair is Syria, the Pentagon's next likely target for "regime change", a leading British newspaper reported.
Syria is expected to jump high on the table of the meeting as American officials intensify their allegations that they have seen growing evidence of support for “terrorism” by Damascus and suspect it allowed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to transfer weapons of mass destruction within its borders, the report said.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld accused Syria of providing military equipment, mainly night-vision goggles, to Iraq and threatened Damascus to stay clear of Iraq.
American officials stressed that regime change in Syria should be achieved without military action. They are also convinced that Syrian president, Bashar Assad has actively collaborated with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and agreed to take weapons, including Scud missiles, from him so they would not be discovered in Iraq by U.N. inspectors.
"Significant equipment, assets and perhaps even expertise was transferred, the first signs of which appeared in August or September 2002," a Bush administration official told The Telegraph. "It is quite possible that Iraqi nuclear scientists went to Syria and that Saddam's regime may retain part of its army there." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
