In a move applauded by the Council for the Rescue of Syrian Jews, 69 U.S. senators have written a letter urging Syrian President Hafez Assad to improve human relations practices, end support of terrorism and allow Jews to emigrate freely.
“I think it is a very significant effort by members of the Senate to place the government of Syria on notice that they cannot assume there will be normalization of relations with Syria until all these issues are resolved,” said Gilbert Kahn, the council’s executive director.
“For the council, the strong statement on behalf of Syrian Jewry is especially important because it reiterates the Senate’s longstanding concern for human rights in the world,” he said.
In the letter, initiated by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the senators asked Syria to free two Jewish brothers, arrested in 1987 after traveling to Israel, “and permit free emigration for all Syrian Jews.”
The senators also asked Assad to expel all terrorists now headquartered in Syria and close all terrorist training bases in Syria and Lebanon. They noted that Syria remains on the U.S. State Department list of countries that support terrorism.
The senators expressed alarm at Syria’s decision to buy sophisticated offensive weapons with the $2 billion it received from the Persian Gulf states for its participation in Operation Desert Storm.
They also called for the extradition of Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner, who has lived in Syria for years.
Syria also was asked to end human rights violations such as torture, discontinue its involvement in the international drug trade and commit itself to withdrawing its army from Lebanon.
These steps and “a sincere commitment to peace in the Middle East are necessary before normal relations can occur between our two countries,” the senators stressed.
Kahn said he believes Syria will not dismiss the letter lightly.
“There has been a clear, heightened awareness by the government of Syria that the Congress is not comfortable with many initiatives that have been taken by the Bush administration in its bilateral talks with Syria,” he said.
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