Syria defends its role in terrorism war

UNITED NATIONS -- Amid growing U.S. criticism of Syria's support for Palestinian militant groups, Syrian leaders are fighting back, saying they have cooperated with the U.S.-led "war on terrorism" without receiving credit from the Bush administration.

On a visit to the United Nations, where Syria held the Security Council presidency last month, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said his country recently provided the United States with information that helped foil an attack on American soldiers by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

"We have helped in rescuing American lives," al-Sharaa said at a June 21 news conference after chairing a Security Council meeting on the Middle East. "We have done that because this is a matter of principle. We are against terrorism, and at the same time the Americans know that we differentiate between terrorism, which we condemn, by al-Qaida, and the resistance, which we support, in the occupied territories" of the West Bank of Gaza Strip.

Syria on annual list

The United States has put Syria on the annual list of states that sponsor terrorism since the 1980s. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has become more critical of Syria over its backing of militant Palestinian groups and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, and over accusations that Syria is circumventing U.N. sanctions on Iraq by importing oil from Baghdad.

"They have a difference of opinion with us about what constitutes terrorism," said a U.S. official who asked not to be named. "We can't begin to talk about removing them from the list of terrorist states until they expel these groups and close down their camps."