WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President, Barack Obama was criticized Wednesday for their approach to Syria, while a congressional panel questioned the opening amid accusations that Damasc1000us sought to arm the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas Scud missile .
Members of the Committee on House Foreign Affairs interrogated thoroughly as possible Obama administration official for the Middle East, saying that Syria”s threatening behavior was uncertain about his efforts to improve relationships.
“We currently have a policy towards Syria, and is to our benefit? What are we doing?” said Rep. Eliot Engel, calling for a tougher U.S. stance against Syrian President Basher al-Assad on the transfer of weapons and other items.
U.S. Undersecretary for Middle Eastern affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, said the United States was seeking answers to allegations of missile and took the matter in an extremely serious.
“All options are on the table about this,” he said while reiterating the need to expand the diplomatic dialogue with Damascus.
Israeli President Shimon Peres, has publicly accused neighboring Syria of sending Scuds to Hezbollah, a Lebanese Islamic militant group. Syria denies the accusation and said that Israel may be using the charges as a pretext for a military attack.
Feltman declined to say whether the United States had confirmed such a transfer and said he could not respond to the matter at a public hearing.
But he said the U.S. has repeatedly warned Syria on the transfer of ballistic missiles and pressed tightly to avoid any shipment of this type.
“If these reports turn out to be certain we will review the whole range of tools available to us to reverse a provocative and inflammatory action of Syria,” he said.
Some U.S. officials expressed doubts that have been delivered even a Scud missile the guerrilla group, although they believe that Syria could do a partial transfer of parts of weapons, documents or funds.
allegations of missile delivery complicated Obama”s attempts to forge a rapprochement with Syria, which the government sees as crucial to peace efforts in the Middle East and to stabilize the nascent democracy in neighboring Iraq.
United States agreed to send an ambassador to Damascus after five year absence. But the envoy-designate, Robert Ford, still waiting for full Senate confirmation and Feltman admitted that some senators may be reluctant to move, given the doubts about Syria”s intentions.
“It”s like they just spit in our faces,” said Rep. Dan Burton citing a Syrian package described as hostile to U.S. interests and its allies, including Israel.
Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group backed by Iran and Syria, is on the blacklist of terrorist organizations in the United States but is part of the unity government in Lebanon. The group fought Israel in a war in 2006 and has strong support in southern Lebanon, mostly Shiite.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, denied Wednesday Hezbollah has received long-range Scud missiles from Syria.
(Published in Spanish, Juan Jose Lagorio)
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