Powell tells newspaper Syria failing on antiterrorism
'This isn't enough'
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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told an Israeli newspaper that Syria's relationship with the United States is not going to improve because Syria has fallen short of its commitments to end its support for terrorist groups.
"We told them it wasn't going to be good enough just to shut down these headquarters or to have them stop making press announcements, but we wanted those individuals to leave, we wanted them expelled," Powell told the Israeli daily Ma'ariv in an interview published Friday. He was referring to groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Powell's most recent trip to Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was in May. The secretary noted that at the time, Assad had agreed to close the headquarters of these organizations and did "knock these guys off the air publicly for a while."
Powell said Syria has suggested it is taking steps with regard to these groups' financial accounts in Syrian banks. Powell offered no details, but made it clear the Bush administration was not satisfied.
"We made it clear to them that this isn't enough," Powell told the newspaper.
Still, Powell didn't threaten Syria with sanctions or other punitive steps. Instead, he said simply that unless Syria makes more progress, it has little prospect of resuming its trade relationship with neighbor Iraq.
"They need, frankly, a better relationship with us to, in turn, have a better relationship with Iraq, which is one of Syria's largest trading partners ... And it's not happening," said Powell.
Under deposed leader Saddam Hussein, Iraq used to supply Syria with an estimated 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day at cost well below market value.
Powell reiterated the U.S. position that it is interested in a "comprehensive settlement" -- diplomatic parlance for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians as well as Israel and Syria.
The interview, published Friday, was conducted on Wednesday.
CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.
