AFP, Damascus was today staring heightened political isolation in the face after US President George W Bush signed into law a bill providing for economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria.
The sanctions aim to punish Syria for alleged ties to terrorists, its tacit support for insurgents in Iraq and reported efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction.
The editor-in-chief of Al-Baath, the ruling Baath party's mouthpiece, told AFP the law sought to reduce Syria's political clout in the Middle East.
With US pressure on Damascus at a “pinnacle”, Washington is “trying to modify” Syrian policy on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Iraq, Mahdi Daklallah said.
But he vowed Syria would not cave in, despite its willingness to “bend” to US demands, such as patrolling its border to prevent armed fighters from crossing into Iraq.
Arab diplomats also saw the law as a US effort to “muzzle” Syria in the realignment of geopolitical power in the Middle East following the war in Iraq.
The law, which restricts US exports and business investment, downgrades US-Syrian diplomatic ties, imposes travel restrictions on Syrian diplomats in the United States, “darkens the interests of the two countries”, said Daklallah.
But Syrian Oil Minister Ibrahim Haddad denied that the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act would affect the country.
“There will be no impact,” Haddad told AFP at a meeting of Arab oil ministers in Cairo, answering questions about the effect of the legislation on Syria and US companies working with it.
“It might affect companies, but it will not affect us,” he said.
On Tuesday, Syria signed a European Union association accord, expected to give a new lease of life to reform efforts, after five years of talks.
“The partisans of Israel in the American Congress worked actively for the adoption of this law,” the official SANA news agency said.
“These partisans of Israel want more than anything for Syria to end its support for the resistance of the Palestinian people,” the statement added.
The bill demands that Syria end support for terrorism, halt the development of chemical and biological arms as well as medium and long-range missiles and withdraw the roughly 20,000 troops it has deployed in Lebanon.
It also calls on the governments of Lebanon and Syria to “enter into serious unconditional bilateral negotiations” with Israel in order to secure “a full and permanent peace”.
And it says Syria must close its borders to any military equipment and anti-US militants bound for Iraq, where US-led forces have weathered deadly attacks since ousting Saddam Hussein in April.
The legislation directs the president to prohibit US exports to Syria of weaponry and so-called “dual-use” technology with both civilian and military applications and to pick two from a range of sanctions.
Living under the threat of sanctions, Syria has recently stepped up cooperation with the war on terror.
On November 30, it turned over 22 Turkish nationals to Ankara who were suspected of involvement in a series of suicide attacks in Istanbul last month that left 61 dead.
Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told The New York Times his government had helped Washington block at least seven terrorist attacks on American targets.
He denied Syria considers the United States an adversary and that Damascus sponsors terror organisations, saying its support for Lebanon's anti-Israeli group Hizbollah was political and did not involve arms or money.
Meanwhile, US-Syrian contacts continue despite the new law, and a visiting US congressional delegation met Assad here today.
Syrian Expatriates Minister Bussaina Shaaban was in Washington for talks with chief US envoy to the Middle East William Burns and incoming US ambassador to Damascus Margaret Scobey, Lebanon's As-Safir daily reported.
