US raises security precautions for ships arriving from Syria
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Authorities fearing alleged Syrian links with terrorism are increasing security for ships sailing into US ports after making calls in Syria, an official said, as Washington raised pressure on Damascus.
The new measures come after Washington deployed warships near Syria in the eastern Mediterranean, stepped up sanctions on Syria and blacklisted men who allegedly used Syria to aid Al-Qaeda operations in Iraq.
State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Syria was placed on a so-called "Port Security Advisory List" because of "concerns about the connections between Syria and international terrorist organizations."
The move allows the US Coast Guard "to impose some additional port security measures to ships traveling to or arriving in US ports that have previously been either departing from Syria or have called on Syrian ports," he said.
Casey added he understood the measures would affect any ship that has visited Syria during its last five ports of call, but referred reporters to the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security for further information.
Nobody was immediately available for comment at the public affairs offices of either bureaucracy.
A US Navy official said Wednesday that the USS Ross and the USS Philippine Sea have relieved the USS Cole to take up positions in the eastern Mediterranean off Lebanon, which is just south of Syria's own coastline.
"It's a sign of our commitment to stability in the region," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.
The Cole was deployed to waters off Lebanon to signal US concern over a protracted political crisis in Lebanon.
Feuding between a western-backed parliamentary majority and the Syrian and Iranian-backed opposition has left Lebanon leaderless since November.
Syria and Iran deny US accusations of meddling in Lebanon's affairs, insisting that it is Washington and its allies Paris and Riyadh that are blocking a resolution of the deadlock.
Last month the US Treasury Department said that it had blacklisted four men accused of funneling militants, weapons and money through Syria to support Al-Qaeda operations in Iraq.
Also last month the Treasury announced it was freezing the assets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's cousin as part of widening sanctions against Damascus targeting officials engaged in "public corruption."
The relationship took a turn for the worst when the State Department said January 29 that it is time for Syria to stop its alleged abuses of human rights and support for terrorism.
The statement from deputy spokesman Tom Casey appeared to crystallize a cooling US stance towards an Arab government it had courted in the hope it would back the launch of a new Middle East peace initiative last November.
Washington had long complained of Syria's support for opponents of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, such as the radical Hamas movement and the pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah.
