Bush: Syria and Iran harbouring terrorists
US President George Bush today accused the governments of Syria and Iran of continuing to harbour terrorists.
“This behaviour is completely unacceptable,” Bush said. “States that continue to harbour terrorists will be held completely accountable.”
The president has branded Iran – along with North Korea and Iraq under Saddam Hussein – as a member of an “axis of evil” that threatens to spread terrorism.
Washington accuses Iran of not doing enough against members of the militant al-Qaida network.
Senior US officials have also accused Syria of backing Palestinian and Lebanese groups it classifies as terrorists.
Bush, at a press conference at his Texas ranch with Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, also urged allies to act under UN authority to help rebuild Iraq.
“The more people involved in Iraq the better off we will be,” he said. “A free Iraq is a crucial part of winning the war on terror.”
The president urged allies to act under UN authority to help rebuild the country.
“The more people involved in Iraq the better off we will be,” he said. “A free Iraq is a crucial part of winning the war on terror.”
Bush called Berlusconi a “good friend and a strong ally.”
“Defending freedom requires cost and sacrifice. The United States is grateful for Italy’s willingness to bear the burdens with us,” Bush said.
For his part, Berlusconi talked of the importance of healing the rift between the United States and many European nations that the Iraq war caused.
“We really need to support and develop a culture of union and cohesion and certainly not nurture the culture of division,” he said. “Selfishness, narcissism and division shall never win.”
Italy holds the current rotating presidency of the 15-nation European Union.
Bush reiterated his view that China, South Korea and US allies need to pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear ambitions and return to the negotiating table.
“I believe we can solve this issue diplomatically by encouraging the neighbourhood ... to tell Kim Jong Il that a decision to develop a nuclear arsenal is one that will alienate you from the rest of the world,” he said.
North Korea told US officials in early July that it had completed reprocessing 8,000 reactor fuel rods, enough weapons-grade plutonium for about five or six nuclear bombs in addition to the one or two US officials believe Pyongyang may already have.
