& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Bush warns Syria, Iran

US to back Israel against Iranian attack

AFP, REUTERS, Washington
President George W. Bush has heightened warnings to Syria after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, and Iran over US suspicions that Tehran is seeking to build nuclear arms.
Bush said there was still time to use diplomacy to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and vowed to support Israel if Tehran threatened its security.
"As you know, the Iranian issue hasn't even gotten to the (UN) Security Council yet. And so there's more diplomacy, in my judgment, to be done," Bush said at a news conference on Thursday.
His remarks suggested that any military action would wait at least until after the matter goes before the United Nations for possible sanctions, should Washington choose
that course.
"Iran is different from Iraq, very different," Bush said. He said the international community had tried diplomacy "over and over again" in Iraq before military action was taken.
Bush said the US relationship with Syria was deteriorating, that Washington wants an international investigation into the Hariri killing and that the United States would support Israel if it came under threat from Iran.
Syria and Iran would be key topics when Bush meets European leaders next week, the US leader told reporters after nominating John Negroponte, the US ambassador to Iraq, to become the new national intelligence director.
Bush did not say who the United States believed was responsible for killing of the former Lebanese
leader in a suicide bomb attack in Beirut on Monday.
But the topic quickly moved to Lebanon's near neighbour, Syria, which has thousands of troops in Lebanon.
Bush said Syria was lagging behind changes in the rest of the Middle East and predicted that more information on who was responsible for the assassination would come out when he was in Europe.
"First we support the international investigation that will be going on to determine the killers of Mr Hariri," Bush said.
"We've recalled our ambassador, which indicates that the relationship is not moving forward; that Syria's out of step with the progress being made in the greater Middle East; that democracy is on the move,
SEE PAGE 11 COL 7 FROM PAGE 1
and this is a country that isn't moving with the democratic movement."
He went on: "The idea is to continue to work with the world to remind Syria it's not in their interest to be isolated."
The United States has regularly criticised Syria for not doing enough to stop militants using Syrian territory to get into Iraq.
Bush called on the Syrian government to hand over supporters of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein who may be hiding in the country. "We expect them to find and turn over former Saddam regime supporters and send them back to Iraq," he said.
"We've made it very clear from the beginning of my administration that Syria should not use its territory to support international terrorist groups. We expect them to adhere to UN Security Counsel resolution 1559, which calls for the removal of troops from Lebanon. And we expect them to help free and fair elections to take place in Lebanon."
Bush said he would use his trip to Europe next week to discuss ways "we can work together to convince the Syrians to make rational decisions."
He added that he would also work with Europeans and Israel to develop an "effective' strategy to contain Iran, which Washington accuses of assembling the parts for a nuclear bomb.
Bush said the United States would support Israel if Iran threatened its security.
"The objective is to solve this issue diplomatically, is to work with friends -like we're doing with France, Germany and Great Britain -- to continue making it clear to the Iranians that developing a nuclear weapon will be unacceptable," Bush said.
"Iran has made it clear they don't like Israel, to put it bluntly. And the Israelis are concerned about whether or not Iran develops a nuclear weapon, as are we, as should everybody."
The United States wants a successful diplomatic solution to the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme, the president said.
But he added: "Clearly, if I was
the leader of Israel and I'd listened to some of the statements by the Iranian ayatollahs that regarded the security of my country, I'd be concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon as well.
"And in that Israel is our ally and in that we've made a very strong commitment to support Israel, we will support Israel if her security is threatened," Bush said.
But returning to security, Bush said: "We'll continue to work with the international community to make it clear that some of the behavior in the Middle East is unacceptable.
"You know, the development of a nuclear weapon is unacceptable. Harbouring terrorists or providing safe haven for terrorists is unacceptable. And so there's a lot of progress that can be made."