Naharnet - La Syrie utilise le Tribunal Hariri comme "moyen de pression"

Naharnet - Syria Hits Back at Rice, Says U.S. Using Hariri Tribunal as 'Means of Pressure', 11 April 2008

Syria on Thursday accused the United States of using the international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri as a "means of pressure" on Damascus. "The words of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice before Congress jump ahead of the results of the international inquiry which is underway and has not yet finished," the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.It said her remarks were "additional proof that the United States is using the tribunal as a means of political pressure on Syria."On Wednesday, Rice ruled out any deal with Syria to keep President Bashar al-Assad's regime or family from being implicated in Hariri's murder.Senator Arlen Specter told Rice during a Senate committee's hearing that Jordan's King Abdullah II recently told him that Assad was concerned about the international tribunal that will try suspects in Hariri's assassination.Specter floated the idea of launching negotiations with Damascus to gain political progress in the region in exchange for reduced sentences in the case.Abdullah "said that the item that is most on the mind of President Bashar Assad is the action of the international tribunal which could lead to his indictment and raised the possibility that that might be in the mix," he said.But Rice responded: "I don't think that it would be appropriate to suggest that we might be willing to limit the scope of this tribunal on the assassination of Rafik Hariri ... because it might somehow implicate either the regime or the Assad family.""I know that has been on their mind, but I think that would be a very bad step. I think it would be bad for Lebanon, and bad for international justice," she told the Senate Appropriations Committee.Rice recalled that the tribunal has not been formed yet and that Washington has to be careful not to politicize it."Our efforts have been not to focus the tribunal toward Syria, or about Syria, or about the Assad family, but rather to try and ensure the smooth .... working of the tribunal," she said."I think that is the appropriate place for us to be. After all, the tribunal was created under a United Nations Security Council resolution and it needs to take place with integrity," Rice said.Specter said: "I am inclined to agree with you about that."