LONDON, April 28 (UPI) -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welsh said Washington's relations with Syria are not only bad but getting worse.
The strain in relations is mainly caused by Syria's resistance to reform; its support of "terrorist groups;" reluctance to secure its border with Iraq to prevent the infiltration of fighters; and its interference in Lebanese affairs and suspected involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
"No, relations are not good, and are getting worse actually," Welsh said in an interview with United Press International during a visit to London.
"It is unfortunate, because we respect the country of Syria and the people of Syria. I lived and worked in Syria and I know that there is a huge difference between the people and the regime, but unfortunately the regime does not listen to the people, but the people have to listen to the regime because they are forced to," Welsh said.
The U.S. official pointed out that Washington had asked the Syrian leadership in Damascus to change its behavior to no avail.
"They preferred to choose to support certain terrorist groups and to decide for the Lebanese what the Lebanese political future should be, something that was deeply resented by the Lebanese people," he said.
Furthermore, Welsh said, "the Syrians failed to secure their border with Iraq" to quell the infiltration of fighters joining the insurgency against U.S.-led forces and government forces.
Welsh stressed that the U.S. administration was not satisfied with Syria's cooperation with a United Nations-commissioned investigation into Hariri's Feb. 14, 2005 assassination in a Beirut blast which also claimed the lives of 19 other people.
"No, we are not happy, because it took a very long time to arrange the questioning of President Bashar Assad, and my view is that Syria should have been the first to volunteer to speak," he said.
The investigation, first led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, contended that no such crime could have taken place without the knowledge of Syrian intelligence, which controlled Lebanon at the time of the assassination. Mehlis, who was succeeded by Belgian investigative judge Serge Brammertz, named Lebanese and Syrian officials as suspects in the crime in one of its reports to the U.N.
Welsh rejected as "total nonsense" any U.S. interference in the investigation and reports about a deal between Washington and Syria that slowed down the momentum of the probe.
"The United States is not influencing the investigation in any way, either to push forward or to pull back.
"In fact," Welsh added, "the United States has no involvement in the investigation which we do not know where it is going. Mr. Mehlis and Mr. Brammertz are credible international civil servants pursuing a serious investigation in which not just one country or two are involved, but many countries."
He stressed that the investigation "will go where it is going to go, and if it goes in the direction of Syria, then that will be where it ends up."
Welsh explained that a sophisticated crime such as Hariri's assassination was not easy to resolve. The explosive device used was highly detailed, and the operation involved large quantities of explosives assembled in a highly sophisticated manner with a lot of technology.
"That leads us to believe that there is a significant intelligence service involved in this, but I do not know when the investigation will produce results," Welsh added.
The U.S. official also criticized Syria for striking an alliance with Iran, which is currently locked in a conflict with the West over its controversial nuclear program.
"The Syrians continue to cooperate with the regime in Iran, one of the most unusual alliances in the Arab world. As a result, international isolation is deepened," Welsh said.
Welsh also played down the possibility of restoring U.S. ambassador in Damascus Margaret Scobey to her post in view of deteriorating relations. Scobey was recalled to Washington a few days after Hariri's assassination.
Washington did not establish contact with former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam who broke away from Syria's Baath regime last year and went on self-exile in France, Welsh said.
