Reform party of Syria
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U.S. Concludes Syria Helped Finance Sunni Insurgence
Washington DC, November 20, 2004/World Tribune/ -- The United States has concluded that Syria helped finance the Sunni insurgency in Iraq.
Officials said the regime of President Bashar Assad used the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria to relay hundreds of millions of dollars to Saddam Hussein loyalists in Iraq. They said the money has been deployed to finance the insurgency against the U.S.-led coalition primarily in Iraq's Sunni Triangle.
The Commercial Bank of Syria held more than $1 billion in Saddam regime accounts on the eve of the U.S.-led war in Iraq in March 2003, officials said. Most of that money stemmed from Iraqi arms and oil smuggling as well as illegal commissions obtained from Iraqi oil sales overseen by the United Nations.
During a hearing by the Senate subcommittee on Nov. 15, Treasury Assistant Secretary Juan Carlos Zarate asserted that Syria has disbursed $600 million to unidentified Iraqis. Zarate, responsible for terrorist financing and financial crimes at Treasury, said a U.S. team was auditing the Commercial Bank of Syria in an attempt to trace the transfer of funds.
"What we found was when we sent our investigators to Damascus, upon review of the documents and review of the transactional data, it became clear that the Syrians had, in fact, paid out the vast bulk of the amount that had existed in that particular account," Zarate said.
Officials said that over the last 18 months Damascus transferred up to $800 million of Saddam's assets to senior aides of the former president, several of whom have been based in Syria. They said much of the money was believed to have been transferred to ex-Iraqi Vice President Izzet Ibrahim Al Douri, identified as the chief financier of the Sunni insurgency.
"We have folks on the front line right now that are sacrificing their lives, that are under fire, and somewhere, somehow, there's money being used to fuel that insurgency," Sen. Norm Coleman, chairman of the permanent investigations subcommittee of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, said. "And I would just hope that a very strong message is delivered to the Syrians, that we get their cooperation, that we track this down and we figure out what's what."
Officials said Syria has asserted that the money was relayed to Iraqi brokers and traders. They said Treasury was seeking to examine these claims, but said Damascus has failed to cooperate.
"I would have to say poor," Zarate said in his description of Syrian cooperation with Washington.
The United States has identified the Commercial Bank of Syria as a primary money-laundering concern. Officials said the bank, which has come under threat of U.S. sanctions, facilitated illicit activity with Iraq, including the financing of the insurgency war in Iraq.
"This issue has been front and center in terms of the dialogue with the Syrian government," Zarate said. "It's been part of the dialogue at the highest levels. So we are very much concerned, as you are, that the amounts paid out were either not paid out to legitimate claimants or were paid out to people who are attempting to do us harm now."
Officials said Damascus has failed to honor its assurances to the United States regarding Iraq. They said Damascus has also refused to relay any of Saddam's assets to help develop Syria's eastern neighbor.
The Bush administration has been under pressure from Congress to impose additional sanctions on Syria for its failure to halt the flow of weapons, money and fighters to the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. Officials said this would comprise a key issue when Congress begins its new session in 2005.
Zarate said Treasury was working with other U.S. government agencies to trace U.S. currency seized in Iraq to determine the flow of funds to the insurgency. He did not elaborate.
"We also have assets within Iraq, and that's why the Department of Defense, our soldiers on the ground, the FBI and others are working so hard to try to find those caches of cash within Iraq," Zarate said. "And then finally you have traditional sources of terrorist funding in the region which are mobilizing for the Iraqi jihad, in essence."
Copyrights © 2003, 2004 - Reform Party of Syria - all rights reserved.
RPS on the John Batchelor Show
Washington DC, November 20, 2004 /RPS PR/ -- Farid Ghadry, president of the Reform Party of Syria, will appear on the John Batchelor show on Tuesday November 23 to talk about Assad and the Ba'athist regime in Damascus.
John Batchelor, New York's #1 rated night time talk show host, began national syndication, March 12, 2003. John Batchelor, which broadcasts live weeknights from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. (ET), quickly achieved the highest ratings on WABC-AM during the aftermath of September 11 with his insightful and passionate debate surrounding the war on terrorism.
Many of the country's top political figures and newsmakers appear regularly on John Batchelor, including Sen. John Kerry, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Howard Dean. Recent guests have included Gen. Tommy Franks and Gen. Richard Myers.
SYRIA FINANCES INSURGENCY WAR AGAINST U.S.
Washington DC, November 18, 2004 /MENL News/ - The United States has quietly determined that Syria helped finance the Sunni insurgency in Iraq.
Officials said the regime of President Bashar Assad has used the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria to relay hundreds of millions of dollars to Saddam Hussein loyalists in Iraq. They said the money has been employed to finance the insurgency against the U.S.-led coalition primarily in Iraq's Sunni Triangle.
copyrights © 2003, 2004 - Reform Party of Syria - all rights reserved.
Why Change in Syria is Impossible
Washington DC, November 11, 2004 /RPS Opinion/ -- In an interview by the new Syrian Minister of Information given to Al-Ahram, an Egyptian newspaper, and which was published Tuesday, Mr. Mahdi Dakhlallah talked about the Correctionist Movement of the late illegitimate president of Syria Hafez al-Assad.
Hafez al-Assad seized power illegally in 1970 under the theme of the Correctionist Movement or what is also referred to today as the Reform Movement. The intent was to bring reforms to Syria. Forty one years later and with Syria suffering from a dilapidated economy controlled by the Assad and the Makhlouf families and a population that has never tasted freedom thus turning to extreme Islam, the Ba'ath party is still talking about the Correctionist Movement of Hafez al-Assad. It seems that they have not learned anything since 1970.
The Syrian regime, to keep the Syrian population from thinking about liberty and freedom, invented several myths that center around many themes all of them geared to keep us from thinking for ourselves and to maintain the enmity against other countries and people for the purpose of boasting their standing as true Arabs and true defenders of our heritage. Meanwhile, Syria has invaded Lebanon 28 years ago and maintain its iron grip unto the country, many Syrians such as the Kurds, the Assyrians, the Caledonians, the Armenians, and many others are kept from exercising fully their rights and freedom of religion, and people close to the Assad clan are supporting terrorism in all its forms in Lebanon and else where.
Mr. Dakhlallah's recent statements tell us that nothing has changed and nothing will ever change until this regime is deposed and the millions of Syrians are given the freedom to express themselves in a new orderly society.
To the skeptics we say that the longer we wait, the longer we run the risk of beefing up the rise of extreme Islamists in Syria. Unless the people are given their liberty, they will turn to salvation through religion truly believing that 70 virgins in heaven will solve all of their earthly problems. Wake up America before three years from now you say "We should have done it earlier, it is too late now".
Syrian Money Laundering is a Mystery
Washington DC, November 11, 2004 /RPS News/ - The United States has accused the Syrian government of laundering money for international terrorists and criminals. But the US is not willing to talk about it. The accusations stemmed from reliable intelligence and documents discovered in Iraq that involved Zou Al-Helma Al-Shalish, a Syrian General and cousin to Baschar al-Assad. Al-Shalish has been accused of sending arms to Saddam Hussein up to two weeks prior to the war to free Iraq.
Syria's Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Hussein said on Monday that he expected talks with US Treasury Department officials on the issue to take place this month. "I predict a new round of talks to be held as to solve the standing problem over US accusations to the Commercial Bank of Syria that has been concentrated on money laundering," Al-Hussein told Syria's Al-Thawra newspaper. "This will occur on the sidelines of the Middle East and North African countries meeting in Bahrain this month." Al-Hussein went on to say that the objective of Syria in the "dialogue" is to convince the US to drop its accusations altogether. The charges that the Syrian state-run bank is laundering terrorists' money, he explained, "were damaging to us psychologically, morally and even materially".
Treasury Officials have been reluctant to discuss the issue; some believe that the US wants this sword hanging over the Ba'athists neck as long as possible but others believe it is because Syria is somewhat cooperating on the Iraq border issue and therefore this is not the time to shake the tree.
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