Download Locations:
Summary:
An array of bilateral issues continues to affect relations between the United States and Syria: the course of Arab-Israeli talks; questions of arms proliferation; Syrian connections with terrorist activity; Syria's role in Lebanon; and Syria's opposition to the U.S. occupation in Iraq. After Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003, senior U.S. officials warned Syria to stop permitting transit of military supplies and volunteer fighters through Syria to Iraq. Nevertheless, foreign militants have continued to enter Iraq through Syria while an estimated 1.7 million Iraqi refugees have fled Iraq to Syria to escape sectarian violence and general instability. The assassination on February 14, 2005, of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who had become a vocal critic of Syria's military force presence in Lebanon, drew widespread suspicions of Syrian involvement among some Lebanese and within the international community. The initial report of a U.N. Commission on October 19, 2005, stated "there is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement" in the Hariri assassination. Investigation by the Commission continues. Meanwhile, under increasing domestic and international pressure, Syria withdrew its forces from Lebanon in April 2005 in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559. A variety of U.S. legislative provisions and executive directives prohibit direct aid to Syria and restrict bilateral trade relations between the two countries, largely because of Syria's designation by the U.S. State Department as a sponsor of international terrorism. On December 12, 2003, President Bush signed the Syria Accountability Act, H.R. 1828, as P.L. 108-175, which imposed additional economic sanctions against Syria. In recent years, the Administration has designated several Syrian entities as weapons proliferators and sanctioned several Russian companies for alleged WMD or advanced weapons sales to Syria. Annual foreign operations appropriations legislation also has contained provisions designating several million dollars annually for programs to support democracy in Syria. Since the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, U.S. officials have increased their criticism of Syria's political and logistical support for Hezbollah. U.S. officials and some Members of Congress have blamed Syria for acting as a conduit for the transfer of rockets and other arms to Hezbollah units, thereby enabling Hezbollah units to engage in military action against Israeli targets. After the passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for cessation of hostilities and other measures to bring about peace in the region, the leaders of Syria and Iran claimed a victory, maintaining that their protégé, Hezbollah, had compelled Israel to accept a partial withdrawal from southern Lebanon. In December 2006, the Iraq Study Group (ISG) Report recommended that the United States engage Syria in a regional dialogue on the situation in Iraq in order to avert further sectarian strife and regional war. The ISG also called for a resumption in the Arab-Israeli peace process and recommended that such a process involve all parties including Syria.
