Syria Faces Pan-Arab Isolation for Maintaining Grip on Lebanon
Syria is 
rapidly facing isolation in the Arab World for defying U.N. and U.S. spiraling demands that the Assad regime should withdraw its army from Lebanon and stop its political tutelage over its tiny neighbor, the Beirut media noted on Tuesday. Gulf Arab ministers urged Syria on Monday to respect a U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 that seeks to ease Syria's stranglehold on Lebanon, a rare public intervention in the affairs of a fellow Arab nation. Momentum for a Syrian withdrawal was building among other Arab nations, with Jordan's foreign minister saying his country supported the U.N. resolution demanding foreign forces leave Lebanon without any further procrastination. Egypt also has urged Syria to take "tangible measures" in response to 1559 because President Mubarak was convinced that the U.S. would seek to clamp an international economic blockade on Syria if it fails too leave Lebanon. Ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council member-states said all U.N. resolutions must be followed and nations should not be allowed to pick and choose. They were meeting in the Saudi port city, Jeddah. "The Council supports internationally legitimate resolutions, and the last decision issued by the Security Council, calling for the withdrawal of all forces from Lebanon," said Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheik Mohammed Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, head of the GCC's Council of Ministers. The GCC is comprised of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.(AP-Naharnet)
rapidly facing isolation in the Arab World for defying U.N. and U.S. spiraling demands that the Assad regime should withdraw its army from Lebanon and stop its political tutelage over its tiny neighbor, the Beirut media noted on Tuesday. Gulf Arab ministers urged Syria on Monday to respect a U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 that seeks to ease Syria's stranglehold on Lebanon, a rare public intervention in the affairs of a fellow Arab nation. Momentum for a Syrian withdrawal was building among other Arab nations, with Jordan's foreign minister saying his country supported the U.N. resolution demanding foreign forces leave Lebanon without any further procrastination. Egypt also has urged Syria to take "tangible measures" in response to 1559 because President Mubarak was convinced that the U.S. would seek to clamp an international economic blockade on Syria if it fails too leave Lebanon. Ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council member-states said all U.N. resolutions must be followed and nations should not be allowed to pick and choose. They were meeting in the Saudi port city, Jeddah. "The Council supports internationally legitimate resolutions, and the last decision issued by the Security Council, calling for the withdrawal of all forces from Lebanon," said Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheik Mohammed Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, head of the GCC's Council of Ministers. The GCC is comprised of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.(AP-Naharnet)
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