| Washington supports hope
for 'freedom, democracy' in Syria: Liz Cheney WASHINGTON - A key US official said Thursday that Washington was looking for ways
to broadly encourage freedom and democracy in Syria.
Liz Cheney, who heads the State Department's Middle East democratization portfolio and is
the daughter of US Vice President Dick Cheney, also said that popular moves afoot in
Lebanon for political change will likely fuel similar responses across the region.
"I think you see a quick pace of change across the region. I think you have a
situation now where many people in many countries are watching Lebanon and thinking, 'Why
not me?' 'Why not us?' 'Why can't we have that here?'" said Cheney.
Speaking on the US government sponsored Arab-language television channel Al-Hurra, Cheney
said she had met in Washington last week with some members of Syria's opposition.
The meeting came amid renewed pressure by Washington for Syria to drop its military and
political dominance in neighboring Lebanon.
"The (US) President has made clear that our foreign policy is very much focused on
what we can do to help people have more opportunity, have more of a voice," said
Cheney, whose official title is principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near
Eastern affairs and coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives.
"And so we talk to many different groups to get their input and their thoughts about
what the United States should be doing, or could be doing, about what's happening on the
ground in Syria, about the Syrian people's hope for freedom and democracy," she said.
"So I think we are at an important moment in the political evolution of the Arab
world. And so as I said we are trying to cast as broad and as wide a net as we can to get
input how the US can be most effective in helping to support those moves." |
