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American Morning
Pressure on Syria: Tensions Rising
Aired April 15, 2003 - 08:15 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: There are questions again today about the involvement of Syria right now, what Damascus is doing. Is it helping to hide some of these Iraqi leaders? Is it in the process right now developing chemical weapons? The White House says yes on all of these questions.
But we are told now on the streets of Damascus there is fear in the people that they may be next on the U.S. list. Sheila MacVicar now on the streets of Damascus for our story there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): There is a steady drumbeat.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First things first, we're here in Iraq now. And the second thing about Syria is, is that we expect cooperation, and I'm hopeful we'll receive cooperation.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have seen a chemical weapons test in Syria over the past 12-15 months. And second, that we have intelligence that shows that Syria has allowed Syrians and others to come across the border into Iraq.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I would expect that Syrian authorities will do everything they could not to provide these people safe haven.
MACVICAR: A litany of allegations and accusations that on the streets of Damascus leaves people angry and feeling threatened. There is not much in the Syrian newspapers about what the U.S. administration is saying, but Syrians listen to radio and watch TV.
"We always thought that when the U.S. finished with Iraq," he says, "they would start to make accusations against Syria."
"We are lost," says this man. "Why are the Americans treating us like this?"
FAROUK AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Sometimes they don't know what they want.
MACVICAR: Sometimes even the government here seems bewildered by what the U.S. administration says. AL-SHARAA: We have no problem if you give us any sort of evidence, because if we say to you, no, you are not believing us, because this is the third, fourth statement that you are directing against Syria.
MACVICAR: Out here in the Syrian desert is the border with Iraq, sealed now, at least officially, after U.S. pressure. The Syrians insist no members of Saddam Hussein's regime have entered Syria, and Western diplomats in Damascus agree, saying the intelligence on which that allegation is apparently based is -- quote -- "dubious."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACVICAR: But as the U.K.'s foreign secretary, Jack Straw, has said there are serious questions -- serious questions for Syria to answer. They include questions about Syria's covert chemical weapons program, about its continuing support for groups named as terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. And now that the U.S. administration has made sure the Syrians are listening, the question is what are they going to ask the Syrians to do -- Bill.
HEMMER: Sheila MacVicar in Damascus.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 15, 2003 - 08:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: There are questions again today about the involvement of Syria right now, what Damascus is doing. Is it helping to hide some of these Iraqi leaders? Is it in the process right now developing chemical weapons? The White House says yes on all of these questions.
But we are told now on the streets of Damascus there is fear in the people that they may be next on the U.S. list. Sheila MacVicar now on the streets of Damascus for our story there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): There is a steady drumbeat.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First things first, we're here in Iraq now. And the second thing about Syria is, is that we expect cooperation, and I'm hopeful we'll receive cooperation.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have seen a chemical weapons test in Syria over the past 12-15 months. And second, that we have intelligence that shows that Syria has allowed Syrians and others to come across the border into Iraq.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I would expect that Syrian authorities will do everything they could not to provide these people safe haven.
MACVICAR: A litany of allegations and accusations that on the streets of Damascus leaves people angry and feeling threatened. There is not much in the Syrian newspapers about what the U.S. administration is saying, but Syrians listen to radio and watch TV.
"We always thought that when the U.S. finished with Iraq," he says, "they would start to make accusations against Syria."
"We are lost," says this man. "Why are the Americans treating us like this?"
FAROUK AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Sometimes they don't know what they want.
MACVICAR: Sometimes even the government here seems bewildered by what the U.S. administration says. AL-SHARAA: We have no problem if you give us any sort of evidence, because if we say to you, no, you are not believing us, because this is the third, fourth statement that you are directing against Syria.
MACVICAR: Out here in the Syrian desert is the border with Iraq, sealed now, at least officially, after U.S. pressure. The Syrians insist no members of Saddam Hussein's regime have entered Syria, and Western diplomats in Damascus agree, saying the intelligence on which that allegation is apparently based is -- quote -- "dubious."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACVICAR: But as the U.K.'s foreign secretary, Jack Straw, has said there are serious questions -- serious questions for Syria to answer. They include questions about Syria's covert chemical weapons program, about its continuing support for groups named as terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. And now that the U.S. administration has made sure the Syrians are listening, the question is what are they going to ask the Syrians to do -- Bill.
HEMMER: Sheila MacVicar in Damascus.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
