SYRIA/CANADA: U.S. thanks Syria, for going after gunmen who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus but ruled out any immediate improvement in the frigid ties between the two nations.

Record ID: 279738

  • Title: SYRIA/CANADA: U.S. thanks Syria, for going after gunmen who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus but ruled out any immediate improvement in the frigid ties between the two nations.
  • Date: 13th September 2006
  • Summary: (BN08) DAMASCUS, SYRIA (SEPTEMBER 12, 2006) (REUTERS ) VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS AND POLICE STANDING IN STREET
  • Embargoed: 28th September 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAPMXXFHQW9SANTWMWFFXUWBDE
  • Story Text: The United States thanked Syria on Tuesday (September 12) for going after gunmen who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus but ruled out any immediate improvement in the frigid ties between the two nations.
    Four men shouting Islamic slogans tried to blow up the embassy in Damascus, but their car bomb failed to go off. Syrian security guards killed three in a shootout and captured the fourth. The state news agency SANA said a Syrian guard was also killed.
    Syrian state television said the attackers had tried but failed to detonate a car bomb. Television footage showed a van packed with gas canisters with detonators taped to them.
    The Rawda area where the attack occurred is one of the most heavily guarded districts in the Syrian capital. Hours later, the area remained sealed, with sharpshooters deployed on rooftops and top security officials at the scene.
    U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking during a trip to Canada, thanked Syrian security forces, and expressed condolences over the death of the guard.
    "I do think that the Syrians reacted to this attack in a way that helped to secure our people, and we very much appreciate that," she said.
    Rice said it was not known who was behind the attack. There had been no claims of responsibility.
    White House spokesman Tony Snow said the U.S. was hoping that Syria would become and ally, and "make the choice of fighting against terrorists."
    But a senior State Department official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of his comments, said relations between the two countries countries were unlikely to change much in the near future.
    He said the Syrian response was "their duty."
    Syria's Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majid told state television an investigation was under way.
    "It is clearly a terrorist attack targeting the American embassy. A terrorist group - the identity of which is still unclear. Investigations are underway. One of them who is wounded has been arrested. The investigation will possibly reveal some background," Majid said.
    The United States recalled its ambassador from Syria in February 2005 after the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Beirut. Washington blames Syria for the killing but Damascus denies involvement.
    U.S. criticism of Syria grew this summer during Israel's 34-day war with Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas, who are supported by Syria and Iran.
    Syria's embassy in Washington said U.S. policies in the Middle East fuelled extremism, terrorism and anti-Americanism.
    In a statement after the thwarted attack, it said: "The U.S. should take this opportunity to review its policies in the Middle East and start looking at the root causes of terrorism and broker a comprehensive peace in the Middle East."
    Some Bush administration and former U.S. officials are pushing for high-level contact with Syria, particularly over the Lebanon-Israeli conflict.
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