Italy calls on Syria to prevent terrorist infiltration (Roundup)

Jun 5, 2007, 17:35 GMT

Beirut - Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Tuesday he called on Syria to work on stopping the infiltration of 'terrorists' into its two neighbouring countries Iraq and Lebanon.

'My talks in Damascus have shown there are encouraging and useful elements' concerning the security and political crises in Lebanon, he told reporters during a joint press conference with Lebanon's Premier Fouad Seniora.

'We have made it clear to the Syrian authorities that we value actions, not words,' the Italian foreign minister said.

He stressed that during his meeting with the Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem he had 'expressed his dismay that some terrorists close to al-Qaeda have managed to cross from Iraq to Syria and then probably to Lebanon.'

D'Alema said that during his meeting in Damascus with his counterpart he was given assurances 'that they (the Syrians) are trying to put an end to such an inflow.'

D'Alema's visit comes amid fighting in Lebanon between the army and an Islamist militia that has killed 108 people since May 20, and a day after seven people were wounded in a Beirut bus bomb blast.

The Italian official condemned the 'threat of terrorist groups in Lebanon' and called for the 'full implementation' of UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 33-day Israeli war on the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.

Italy heads the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and has the largest contingent with about 2,500 men.

The UNIFIL along with 15,000 Lebanese army soldiers patrol the Lebanese-Israeli border in accordance with 1701. A UN force headed by a German naval force also patrol the coast to prevent any arms smuggling into Lebanon by sea for Hezbollah.

'We need to see all the clauses of 1701 implemented, including the reportedly arms smuggling to Lebanon through the Syrian-Lebanese border,' he added.

Referring to the UN vote on the formation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of the late premier Rafik Hariri, D'Alema said 'this court is not against anyone or any country.'

'Its only aim is to try people who are creating violence in Lebanon,' he said.

Five-time premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005, in a massive car-bomb attack. His murder was widely blamed on Syria, a charge Damascus has vehemently denied.

The Italian official is due to Leave Beirut Later Tuesday after meeting Christian Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir and the head of the anti- Syrian majority in the Lebanese parliament, Saad Hariri, son of the late premier.

During his few-hour visit to the Lebanese capital he also met with Shiite House Speaker Nabih Berri.

D'Alema called for the need during the G8 foreign ministers' meeting in Germany to placate Syria that the UN tribunal looking into Hariri's death was not a step directed against it.

Al-Moallem recently announced that Syria would not cooperate with the tribunal.

Syria has also insisted it would bring any Syrian proved to have been involved in the killing before the courts and has voiced concerns that the tribunal might be politicized.