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American Morning
Syria's Promises
Aired April 21, 2003 - 07:20 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: Want to get now to the diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and Syria. Two U.S. congressmen met yesterday with Syria's president. They say they were given assurances that Syria would not harbor any former Iraqi leaders.
Live in Damascus with us today, Sheila MacVicar back at her post.
Good afternoon there, Sheila, what's happening?
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.
Yes, it seemed that after yesterday's session between the two congressmen, they spent more than two hours with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, considerably longer than the meeting had been anticipated to last. It seems that there have been somewhat of a de- escalation in the recent tensions between Washington and Damascus. Of course we heard yesterday also from President Bush who said that he was confident that the Syrian government had been listening to the United States, confident that the Syrians had received and understood the message and that he said that he believed them when they said they wanted to cooperate.
Now these two congressmen in their meeting with the Syrian president raised a number of issues with him, issues that we have been hearing discussed at high volume over the course of the last two or three weeks or so from Washington to Damascus. Issues like the question of whether or not there are wanted figures from Saddam Hussein's regime who have sought safety and shelter here in Syria, the question of Syria's continuing sponsorship and support for some groups labeled by the U.S. administration, U.S. government as terrorist organizations.
Now on the question of the Syrian borders, the question of whether or not there are regime figures here, we heard yesterday from the congressmen that the president of Syria had said absolutely, the borders were closed. That was reiterated today at a press conference that concluded just a short while ago with the Syrian Foreign Minister saying absolutely, the borders are sealed. Any Iraqi who wants to come to Syria now must have a visa, a departure from the usual procedure in the Arab world.
It is believed that there is one and perhaps two senior figures wanted by the U.S. administration who, at one time or another, have come to Syria. It is not known whether or not they are still here in Syria -- Bill. HEMMER: Sheila, there is another article that is circulating around here in the U.S. about weapons of mass destruction possibly either destroyed right before the war began in Iraq or possibly taken to Syria maybe as long as five to seven years ago. Are you finding out much on this front that may influence Damascus one way or the other?
MACVICAR: This is -- although the specifics in today's article in "The New York Times" are new and they come from someone who is currently in U.S. hands, who is a former Iraqi weapons of mass destruction scientist involved in one of those programs in Iraq, who has provided the U.S. with some information, which, at this point, at least, seems to suggest that this person does have some credibility, they -- there is an allegation that some components of Iraq's covert weapons of mass destruction program were sent to Syria, perhaps sometime in the late 1990s, technology and components.
Now this has been an allegation we have heard over the last number of weeks from some in the U.S. administration who have suggested that Syria is concealing some parts of Iraq's wanted weapons of mass destruction program. When asked today about that at this news conference, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Syrian Foreign Minister said that, listen, you know we have a proposal in front of the United Nations to make all of the Middle East, not just Syria, but all of the Middle East a weapons of mass destruction free zone. You have any questions about WMD, you should refer that to the Security Council. Obviously not addressing the specifics of this question, but clearly this is a very serious issue and one that there will be -- very soon be very many questions for the Syrian government to answer on -- Bill.
HEMMER: Sheila MacVicar, live in Damascus, thanks for the update there.
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 21, 2003 - 07:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Want to get now to the diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and Syria. Two U.S. congressmen met yesterday with Syria's president. They say they were given assurances that Syria would not harbor any former Iraqi leaders.
Live in Damascus with us today, Sheila MacVicar back at her post.
Good afternoon there, Sheila, what's happening?
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.
Yes, it seemed that after yesterday's session between the two congressmen, they spent more than two hours with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, considerably longer than the meeting had been anticipated to last. It seems that there have been somewhat of a de- escalation in the recent tensions between Washington and Damascus. Of course we heard yesterday also from President Bush who said that he was confident that the Syrian government had been listening to the United States, confident that the Syrians had received and understood the message and that he said that he believed them when they said they wanted to cooperate.
Now these two congressmen in their meeting with the Syrian president raised a number of issues with him, issues that we have been hearing discussed at high volume over the course of the last two or three weeks or so from Washington to Damascus. Issues like the question of whether or not there are wanted figures from Saddam Hussein's regime who have sought safety and shelter here in Syria, the question of Syria's continuing sponsorship and support for some groups labeled by the U.S. administration, U.S. government as terrorist organizations.
Now on the question of the Syrian borders, the question of whether or not there are regime figures here, we heard yesterday from the congressmen that the president of Syria had said absolutely, the borders were closed. That was reiterated today at a press conference that concluded just a short while ago with the Syrian Foreign Minister saying absolutely, the borders are sealed. Any Iraqi who wants to come to Syria now must have a visa, a departure from the usual procedure in the Arab world.
It is believed that there is one and perhaps two senior figures wanted by the U.S. administration who, at one time or another, have come to Syria. It is not known whether or not they are still here in Syria -- Bill. HEMMER: Sheila, there is another article that is circulating around here in the U.S. about weapons of mass destruction possibly either destroyed right before the war began in Iraq or possibly taken to Syria maybe as long as five to seven years ago. Are you finding out much on this front that may influence Damascus one way or the other?
MACVICAR: This is -- although the specifics in today's article in "The New York Times" are new and they come from someone who is currently in U.S. hands, who is a former Iraqi weapons of mass destruction scientist involved in one of those programs in Iraq, who has provided the U.S. with some information, which, at this point, at least, seems to suggest that this person does have some credibility, they -- there is an allegation that some components of Iraq's covert weapons of mass destruction program were sent to Syria, perhaps sometime in the late 1990s, technology and components.
Now this has been an allegation we have heard over the last number of weeks from some in the U.S. administration who have suggested that Syria is concealing some parts of Iraq's wanted weapons of mass destruction program. When asked today about that at this news conference, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Syrian Foreign Minister said that, listen, you know we have a proposal in front of the United Nations to make all of the Middle East, not just Syria, but all of the Middle East a weapons of mass destruction free zone. You have any questions about WMD, you should refer that to the Security Council. Obviously not addressing the specifics of this question, but clearly this is a very serious issue and one that there will be -- very soon be very many questions for the Syrian government to answer on -- Bill.
HEMMER: Sheila MacVicar, live in Damascus, thanks for the update there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
