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U.S. Expects Much More of Syria

(Washington Post) - Syria says it has shut down the offices of Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the main authors of suicide bombings against Israel, but it hasn't expelled its operatives. The busloads of fighters who crossed the border into Iraq to fight the Americans have stopped, but others may be slipping through all the same, Western diplomats say. Assad has refused to recognize Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council. Diplomats in Damascus and analysts abroad say the Syrians haven't grasped that the Bush administration expects much more of them. When it became clear that Iraq had crumbled, Syria - fearing it was next - went out of its way to look helpful to the Americans. Almost five months later, however, with the occupation of Iraq running into trouble, Syria seems less nervous and less pliant. Washington's main preoccupation now is to get Syria to expel Khaled Mashaal and Ramadan Shallah, the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad respectively, before further suicide bombings blow up the latest American push for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
2003-09-05 00:00:00
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