HiddenMysteries.com
HiddenMysteries.net
HiddenMysteries.org



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A word from our sponsor

   

Hypcocrite, Renditionist, Torturer, Genocidal maniac, and Gitmo Creator Lame Duck Bush Chides Syria over Human Rights?!

Thursday, January 31 2008 @ 01:02 AM CST

Increase font    Decrease font
This option not available all articles

US sharply toughens stance toward Syria

by Lachlan Carmichael

The United States said Tuesday it is time for Syria to stop its alleged abuses of human rights and support for terrorism, toughening its stand toward a country it has courted for a new US peace drive

State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey issued the statement after earlier condemning Syria for jailing former MP Riad Seif and demanding his immediate release along with other detained dissidents.

"It is time for the Syrian government to modify its behavior, end its support for terrorism in the region, and provide its citizens with the rights they deserve," it said.

The formal statement appeared to crystallize a cooling US stance towards an Arab government it has courted in the hope it would support Washington's new push for Middle East peace.

In November, Washington welcomed Syria's participation at the international conference in Annapolis, Maryland that launched the first serious Palestinian-Israeli peace talks in seven years.

However, last week the State Department said it was "unfortunate" that Syria hosted a meeting of Palestinian rejectionist groups.

And during a tour of the Middle East earlier this month, US President George W. Bush told Syria and Iran to stop "interfering" in Lebanon's affairs and urged the country to hold a vote to choose a new president.

US officials also condemned a bombing in Beirut last week that killed several people, including a senior Lebanese intelligence officer investigating earlier deaths largely blamed on Syria. But Syria also condemned the attack.

When asked for comment earlier Tuesday, Casey was quick to condemn Syria's arrest of Seif, which a human rights watchdog said had occurred on Monday, and called for his immediate release along with other dissidents.

Syrian authorities charged Seif with a series of national security offenses Tuesday, according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.

A further 10 dissidents who attended last month's meeting of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration were charged with the same offenses on Monday.

The Damascus Declaration calls for radical democratic change in the country, and has united communist, nationalist, liberal and Kurdish parties.

President George W. Bush has applauded the formation of the grouping, saying "the brave men and women who formed this council reflect the desires of the majority of Syrian people to live in freedom, democracy, and peace."

Casey's statement said Seif's arrest and "lack of transparency" in the proceedings against the 10 others "are yet another example of the Syrian regime's contempt for the universally-recognized right of free expression of ideas, and its blatant attempts to silence and intimidate the Syrian people."

It urged Syria to fulfill "its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and cease its harassment of Syrians who are peacefully" advocating democratic and political reform.

Casey told reporters earlier that the US government was all the more concerned about Seif's arrest because of his medical condition.

In August last year, the State Department called on Syria to lift a travel ban on Seif so that he could get treatment overseas for what the human rights watchdog says is prostate cancer.

Seif was sentenced to five years in prison in 2001 on charges of attempting to subvert the constitution

http://news.yahoo.com

See Bush HYPOCRISY here:
The Gulag Comes To The USA
http://hiddenmysteries.net/geeklog/article.php?story=20080130194203481

Comments (0)




* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A word from our sponsor

   


HiddenMysteries
Main Headlines Page

Main Article Page
Hypcocrite, Renditionist, Torturer, Genocidal maniac, and Gitmo Creator Lame Duck Bush Chides Syria over Human Rights?!
http://www.hiddenmysteries.net/newz/article.php/20080131010212426

Check out these other Fine TGS sites

HiddenMysteries.com
HiddenMysteries.net
HiddenMysteries.org
RadioFreeTexas.org
TexasNationalPress.com
TGSPublishing.com
ReptilianAgenda.com
NationofTexas.com
Texas Nationalist Movement