Rice authorizes talks with Syria on Iraqi refugees
Source: Reuters
By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday she had authorized the U.S. embassy in Damascus to talk to Syria about Iraqi refugees but played down the chances of a broader conversation about Iraq. U.S. officials have long accused Syria of doing little to stem the flow of Islamist fighters and weapons across its long, porous border with Iraq. Syrian officials have said sealing the border is impossible and Iraq must do more to patrol its side. The Bush administration for months has resisted arguments it should engage directly with Damascus to try to stabilize the situation in Iraq, arguing such talks have been fruitless in the past and that Syria knows what it should do to help Iraq. Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rice told lawmakers she had "explicitly" authorized the top U.S. diplomat in Damascus to talk to Syria about the flow of Iraqi refugees into Syria. She made clear this did not presage a wider conversation on Iraq with Syrian officials. About 3.7 million of Iraq's 24 million people have either fled the country for Syria, Jordan and other nations or left their homes for safer havens within Iraq, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR. About 50,000 Iraqis flee their homes every month amid severe sectarian violence. Under fire from some lawmakers for the fact that the United States has taken in only 466 Iraqi refugees since 2003, when the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, the U.S. State Department this week set up a task force to study the issue. A U.S. official who asked not to be named said Rice approved the talks in connection with the task force. The task force will look at increasing humanitarian aid to refugees in neighboring countries and at whether the State Department should help Iraqis that work for it in Iraq, and are therefore threatened, to emigrate to the United States. The United States withdrew its ambassador from Syria in February 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. U.S. officials have suspected Syrian agents of being involved in the killing. The Bush administration has come under pressure from former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and leading senators to hold more direct talks with Syria to try to stabilize Iraq, which is mired in sectarian violence. Rice made clear she had little interest in such talks, suggesting Damascus would use them to demand concessions over Lebanon, where it was a power broker before pulling out its troops in 2005 under international pressure. "I am concerned that given the circumstances of Syrian behavior in Lebanon ... talking with Syria now about Iraq would have downsides for us in terms of Lebanon, in terms of what Syria would be looking for, in terms of how it would be perceived" Rice said.
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