BEIRUT, Lebanon, October 18 (Lebanonwire) -- The Financial Times (FT) reported Monday that US President George Bush’s administration is looking for ways to add pressures on Syria should that country not agree to an exit proposal known as the ‘Gaddafi deal’.

FT reported that the US is waiting for the results of the UN probe into the former Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder to measure the amount of support their allies in the UN Security Council can give to impose sanctions on Syria, “however they are also studying the possibility of sanctions from their own end only.”

The deal in question was a compromise similar to Libyan President Moa’mar Qaddafi’s agreement to assume full responsibility for the downing of the Pan Am plane over Lockerbie in Scotland and announce an end to weapons of mass destruction programs, thus ending years of sanctions and isolation with the west, who as a result have now resumed full diplomatic and economic relations with Libya.

In order to achieve a similar outcome, Syria would have to play a positive role in the region with respect to ending its support for insurgency in Iraq, backing the democratic changes in Lebanon by withdrawing the remaining intelligence apparatus from the country and ending its influence on Palestinian organizations and assistance to Hezbollah.

An unnamed US official told FT that he doubts Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ability to make such a decision at this juncture, adding, “The US has not received feedback on the proposal yet.”

FT said “the current pressures coupled with the offer could create internal fissures in Syria, knowing that Washington have been looking to replace Assad for a while,” a fact corroborated by the US official whose identity was not revealed.

FT said that another US source revealed US plans by the Pentagon to selectively attack Syrian Baathist who are believed to directly support Iraqi insurgency efforts, “however, no such decision has yet been made.”

That source also pointed to the fact that “diplomats close to the UN investigation are inclined to believe that the findings might not be conclusive about Syria’s involvement with the Hariri murder,” adding “Europe’s appetite to imposing sanctions on Syria is not as strong and facing strong opposition from Russia.”

FT said “European diplomats see that US pressures might lead to the collapse of the Syrian regime followed by the reign of chaos”, indicating “Paris which played an important role in getting Syria to withdraw from Lebanon favors dealing very carefully with the country as opposed to other options at hand.”

Copyright © 1999-2005 Lebanonwire^®.com. All rights reserved.