Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud condemned on Wednesday the newly-imposed US sanctions on Syria. In his statement, cited by KUNA, Lahoud said "The new curbs reflect bias of the US admininstration and its bow to Israeli influence and its inability to understand the actual nature of the regional nations."
Lahoud cautioned that the new sanctions might aggravate regional tensions, adding that Syria has enough capacities to face "such injustice."
As expected, Israel hailed the US. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Silvan Shalom, said "This is an important decision that demonstrates US determination to wage an unyielding war not only against terrorist organizations but also against states that support them. Syria continues to shelter and actively aid terrorist organizations. Terrorist leaders continue to operate freely from headquarters in Damascus, and Syria openly arms the Hizbullah while continuing to occupy Lebanon, in blatant violation of a UN Security Council resolution."
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
