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American Morning

America Strikes Back: Washington Not Pleased with Syria Being Made Member of U.N. Security Council

Aired October 09, 2001 - 09:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: On the diplomatic front, Washington is not very pleased with the election of Syria to the United Nations Security Council. Syria is of course on the State Department's list of terrorist-sponsoring nations. The General assembly made Syria a two-year member of the Security Council during a secret ballot on Monday. That State Department spokesman said Washington -- quoting here -- "will continue to express concerns regarding terrorism with the Syrian government." Syria was picked as nominee to nonpermanent seat by the Asian block of the United Nations.

And earlier on this show, Senator John McCain said, it is possible that Syria could itself be a target of U.S. military action.

Just what will a Syrian seat on the U.S. Security Council mean for the war on terrorism? Let's turn to Richard Murphy, former U.S. ambassador to Syria.

And what is your current title at the Council of Foreign Relations.

RICHARD MURPHY, FMR. U.S. AMB. TO SYRIA: Senior fellow for the Middle East.

ZAHN: Senior fellow. Didn't want to diminish that title over there. Welcome back.

MURPHY: Thank you.

ZAHN: What does this mean, that Syria has a seat on the U.N. Security Council?

MURPHY: Well, I don't there's any grounds to be worried about Syria's being on the Security Council.

ZAHN: Why?

MURPHY: Let's remember how it happens. They were the nominee of the Asian group, Asian-Arab group. And has been an understanding for many, many years, that there could be an Arab member on the council. They were unopposed. There was no way that the United States could have blocked it had we wanted to, because there was no other candidate from that group, and this was decided sometime in early -- earlier this year. So it's not a great surprise, and I don't think it's a problem.

ZAHN: How much power will Syria have?

MURPHY: How much power back in an earlier critical time did Cuba, did Yemen have in the Security Council in the run-up to Desert Storm?

ZAHN: Very little.

MURPHY: They didn't block those resolutions, which were the underpinning of our military operations in Desert Storm. So in that sense, the power is limited. But they will be a voice for the Arab group in particular, and you can expect Syria to be very strong on the issue of, what is terrorism? Let's define terrorism. Let's have a conference on terrorism.

ZAHN: Will that amount to anything?

MURPHY: It's an appealing call. President Mubarak of Egypt made a parallel call just yesterday or the day before, so that people would agree on what they were fighting. You know, what a is freedom fighter? What is terrorist? That debate which has gone on for decades. And Syria will take that position strongly. There needs to be an agreed upon definition. And there probably never will be a universally agreed.

ZAHN: Well, I interviewed both Senator Daschle and Senator McCain this morning, and they have both have strong concerns about Syria sitting on the council. And Senator Daschle said his larger concern, though, is the extent of which Syria would help the U.S. in a long, drawn-out campaign against terrorism. What would Syria's involvement be long-term?

MURPHY: Syria -- the way that Syria has concerned the United States over the years has been that it has harboring, to use the latest term, radical, Palestinian groups. At one point, it was the Japanese Red Army operating just across the border in Lebanon's Paca (ph) Valley, under where Syrian was -- Syria had a role to play, and a dominant role. Their interests in these groups were -- as groups were spotting the struggle against Israel, the Palestinian resistance. Now Syria has also been the protector of the supply roots for Hezbollah operating in Southern Lebanon. Syria says its support has been always in the -- in terms of helping people resist occupation, in this case Israeli occupation.

ZAHN: Right. All right, so in the end, when you have someone with a stature of Senator John McCain, saying it's highly possible that Syria might ultimately be targeted, how do you reconcile this action on the council which might be future military action against that country?

MURPHY: Conceivably, such action is possible. But let's keep in mind that we have been sponsors of a major effort over the years for Arab-Israeli peace. The important thing is to get Syria, the Palestinians, the Israelis back into talks where they were until the breakdown during the intifada that started a year ago. Syria was engaged in talks, and when Syria sees that it can achieve its goal of getting all of the land that was occupied in 1967 back to Syria, I don't believe -- see any concerns, or have any reasons for concerns about Syria, harboring terrorist.

ZAHN: Well, we always appreciate your insights. Former ambassador Richard Murphy, good to have you with us.

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