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The
United States has demanded that Syria "dismantle" the militant
Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, US National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice was quoted as saying in an Israeli
newspaper Friday.
"At every opportunity, we have asked Syria to stop supporting
terrorism, dismantle Hezbollah, close the headquarters of terrorist
groups in Damascus and end the threat posed to Israel from rockets
in south Lebanon," Rice said, in remarks published in Hebrew in the
Yediot Aharonot daily.
Rice was referring to the positions in south Lebanon held by the
Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah, which led the resistance to
Israel's 22-year occupation of the area which ended in May
2000.
Besides frequent violations of Lebanon's airspace by Israeli
warplanes, which draw anti-aircraft fire from Hezbollah, the
Lebanon-Israel border has been largely quiet for many months.
Rice's remarks come as US Secretary of State Colin Powell is due in
Syria later Friday for talks in which he will press Damascus to
address US concerns about support for "terrorist" groups as well as
allegations it is pursuing chemical weapons.
Since US forces took Baghdad on April 9, Washington has turned up
the heat on Damascus, also accusing it of hosting members of Saddam
Hussein's deposed regime.
Syria has rejected the charges and called for dialogue with the
United States - Sapa-AFP
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