UK plan to pressure Syria on weapons

[Cry Freedom]

Britain is pressing to use the combined weight of the European Union's "big three" countries to put pressure on Syria over weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and Iraq, the Guardian has learned.

(snip)

The most obvious goal would be to persuade Syria, facing the threat of US sanctions, to sign up to the chemical weapons convention.

(snip)

The US has kept Syria on its blacklist of alleged state sponsors of terrorism and has accused it of developing WMD. Last month the US Senate passed a bill to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on it for backing anti-Israeli groups like Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and for maintaining a military presence in Lebanon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1112082,00.html