Aid Package for Syria Defeated in Narrow Vote by E.c. Parliament

Despite recent lobbying here by the Syrian foreign minister, the European Parliament has narrowly blocked the release of a long-withheld financial aid package to Syria because of that country’s poor human rights record.

The vote this week marked the third time in a year that European Community financial aid to Damascus was denied.

The European Parliament, based in Strasbourg, France, has the power to veto agreements between the E.C. Executive Commission and non-E.C. countries.

It voted 249-75 with 29 abstentions on the proposal to provide $184 million in financial aid to Syria. But since the motion failed to be supported by the requisite number of 260 votes, the aid package was denied.

Of the European Parliament’s 518 members, just 353 were present during the vote.

During the debate on the proposal, the E.C. commissioner in charge of external affairs, Hans van den Brock, stressed Syria’s important role in the Middle East peace process, but also insisted that Syria must let its Jews leave the country if they wish to do so.

Jews had been permitted to leave Syria on travel visas since April 1992. But last October, the steady flow came nearly to a halt and has remained at barely a trickle ever since.

The European Parliament also criticized Syria for harboring Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner since the 1950s.

Last month, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa visited the E.C. headquarters in Brussels and lobbied European leaders to release financial aid to Damascus.

During Sharaa’s visit, Nazi-hunter Beate Klarsfeld demonstrated here with the support of the Green bloc in Parliament and insisted that any aid to Syria be linked to the respect of human rights and Brunner’s extradition, long sought by Germany and France.