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Tension seems to ease between Syria, US

AGENCIES, Damascus
Syria welcomed yesterday an apparent softening of US charges against Damascus, with Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara saying the country always favoured dialogue to confrontation with Washington.
Israel, too, began letting down its guard. The authorities declared that the Iraqi missile threat against their citizens
was over and prepared for the departure of 700 US soldiers manning Patriot missile installations south of Tel Aviv.
"We welcome the recent statement by President (George W) Bush and I would like to add that Syria from the beginning never wanted confrontation but dialogue with the USA," he told reporters during a joint press conference with visiting Spanish counterpart
Ana Palacio.
Shara referred to comments by Bush Sunday that the United States had assurances Syria would not harbour fleeing war criminals from neighbouring Iraq.
"I'm confident the Syrian government has heard us, and I believe it when they say they want to cooperate with us," Bush had said at the
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Fort Hood army base in Texas.
His administration had increased pressure on Damascus, charging that Syria possessed chemical weapons, had smuggled military equipment into Iraq and provided a safe haven for associates of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Shara said the two countries had nonetheless maintained a dialogue, saying it hadn't always "brought about tangible results, but it was there".
He maintained that for the past 20 years, Syria had worked for a just and comprehensive peace in the region, claiming his country had been "a stabilising factor in the Middle East".
Damascus did not back Baghdad during its 1980 invasion of Iran, nor that of Kuwait 10 years later, and had supported the 1989 Taef accord which put an end to civil war in Lebanon, the foreign minister noted.
Palacio said there had been "no Spanish mediation between Syria and the USA. Syro-American relations don't need an intermediary."
She referred to the US charges, saying: "Statements against Syria do not reflect the Spanish view. My government thinks that some statements are not helpful."
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, one of Washington's staunchest supporters over the war in Iraq, said last week that Syria would not be the target of military action and that the conflict in Iraq should not spread to neighbouring
countries.
Palacio said Monday: "Syria and Spain share a pragmatic attitude and want to create a common ground to work for the future and welfare of Iraq.
"Syria proved to be responsible, pragmatic and constructive in the UN Security Council in voting the 1441 resolution" which mandated arms inspectors in November to search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Syria is currently the only Arab member on the UN Security Council, and Spain holds a non-permanent seat there as well.
The Spanish foreign minister discussed the regional situation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after which the official Sana agency said both had agreed the United Nations should have a role in working for world peace.
Palacio and Assad had called for "the UN to regain its effective and positive role for security and peace in the world," Sana reported.
"Syria supports solutions which guarantee the interests of Arab people and resolutions on international legality," it quoted Assad as saying.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is expected in the region for talks this week, while US Secretary of State Colin Powell has intimated he will visit Damascus on a Middle East tour in the near future.