Trump's Golan Statement Draws Ire      03/22 06:09

   From Syria to Turkey and beyond, President Donald Trump's abrupt declaration 
that Washington will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied 
Golan Heights drew strong condemnation on Friday.

   DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- From Syria to Turkey and beyond, President Donald 
Trump's abrupt declaration that Washington will recognize Israel's sovereignty 
over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights drew strong condemnation on Friday.

   The Syrian government called it "irresponsible" and a threat to 
international peace and stability, while Iran's foreign ministry said it 
plunges the region into a new crisis.

   The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said Trump's statement confirms "the blind 
bias of the United States to the Zionist entity," referring to Israel, and 
added that it won't change "the fact that the Golan was and will remain Arab 
and Syrian."

   The ministry also said Damascus is now more intent on liberating the Golan, 
"using every possible means."

   Trump's announcement the day before was a major shift in American policy and 
gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost a month 
before what is expected to be a close election.

   The administration has been considering recognizing Israel's sovereignty 
over the strategic highlands, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, for 
some time and Netanyahu had pressed the matter with visiting U.S. Secretary of 
State Mike Pompeo this week.

   Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. The U.N. Security 
Council resolution 497, issued after the annexation, refers to Israel as "the 
occupying power" and says Israel's attempt to "impose its laws, jurisdiction 
and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and 
without international legal effect."

   Damascus also said Trump's statement "clearly shows the U.S. disdain to the 
international legitimacy and violates its resolutions, especially Security 
Council resolution 497" while also threatening "international peace and 
stability."

   Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Trump's "personal and 
arbitrary decisions" plunge the region into a new crisis, the semi-official 
Tasnim news agency reported.

   Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit also criticized the American stance, 
saying it "comes outside the international legitimacy and no country, no matter 
how important it is, can make such a decision."

   Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Trump's "unfortunate" 
declaration has brought the region "to the brink of a new crisis and new 
tensions." 

   "We will never allow the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan 
Heights," Erdogan added. Egypt also issued a statement, saying the Golan is 
occupied Arab territory and calling for respect for international resolutions.

   Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Trump's comments "can 
destabilize the already fragile situation in the Middle East."

   "The very idea is not helping the goals of the Middle East settlement, quite 
the other way round," he said. "Right now, it's merely a declaration. Let's 
hope it will stay this way."

   The U.S. will be the first country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the 
Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as territory 
occupied by Israel whose status should be determined by negotiations between 
Israel and Syria. Attempts to bring Israel and Syria to the table have failed.

   It was not immediately clear how a U.N. peacekeeping force that is in place 
in the Golan might be affected by the U.S. move. That force's mandate expires 
at the end of June.

   There had been signals that a U.S. decision was coming. Last week, in its 
annual human rights report, the State Department dropped the phrase 
"Israeli-occupied" from the Golan Heights section, instead calling it 
"Israeli-controlled."


(KA)