(As appeared in the New York Sun)

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Sharon’s accusation that Syria may be housing weapons for Saddam Hussein is causing experts to reexamine Syria’s role in the war on terrorism.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel Two television Tuesday, Mr. Sharon said Israel suspected that Iraq has been transferring chemical and biological weapons to Syria to hide them from U.N. weapons inspectors.

Syria denies the allegation. A spokesman for Syria’s foreign ministry said in a fax to the Associated Press that Mr. Sharon’s claim is "untrue and aims, at the same time, to divert attention from the nuclear, chemical and biological arsenal that Israel possesses."

"This accusation against Syria is ridiculous because Syria signed the Non- Proliferation Treaty, and called all Arab states to make the Middle East clear of weapons of mass destruction whether nuclear, chemical or biological weapons," the official said.

But London’s Sunday Telegraph reported that intelligence officials have discovered at least 52 crates containing new Russian air-defense systems and spare parts that were smuggled into Iraq from Syria in early December.

And a new white paper released by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, says Syria’s effort to portray itself as American ally in the war on terror is "nothing more than an elaborate charade."

The report, authored by veteran foreign correspondent Richard Chesnoff, says Syria’s "yes" vote to the U.N. Security Council’s resolution demanding Iraq disarm "was arguably the most duplicitous vote in recent United Nations history."

Mr. Chesnoff says Syria has violated the Security Council’s embargo on Iraq by pumping and globally marketing an average of 150,000 barrels per day of illicit Iraqi oil. He says $1 billion has been made available to Saddam each year through this program. He says that money has been used to obtain weapons and spare military parts.

"One American administration after another has treated Syria with kid gloves in hopes that the Assad regime could be convinced and cajoled into changing its ways.That policy has clearly failed," Mr. Chesnoff said.

Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad made the first-ever official visit by a Syrian president to Britain last week, where he met with British Prime Minister Blair and had an audience with Queen Elizabeth.

The Syrian government has come under harsh criticism for its housing of terrorist groups. Mr. Chesnoff says 10 of the worst Palestinian terror organizations are headquartered in Damascus, a claim denied by Mr. Assad, who has defended suicide bombings.

Mr. Assad says Hamas and Islamic Jihad "do not have offices in Damascus, only press offices" and urged reporters to avoid focusing on what he called "terminology," the Washington Times reported.

The State Department’s 2001 Patterns of Global Terrorism Report says the "Syrian Government … cooperated with the United States and with other foreign governments in investigating Al Qaeda and some other terrorist groups and individuals" but that it continues "to provide safe haven and logistics support to a number of terrorist groups."

Middle East experts say it’s time to re-evaluate the way America deals with Syria.

The director of the Middle East Forum, Daniel Pipes, calls American policy toward Damascus "exceedingly indulgent." He said Syria could play a "mischievous" role in a war in Iraq.

"U.S. and Western policy toward Damascus is … trying to win the regime over rather than confront it … this approach has been in place since 1984. It hasn’t worked, and it’s not going to work now," Mr. Pipes told the Sun.

The editor of the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Gary Gambill, has studied Syria closely. He said there is considerable evidence that eastern European countries have smuggled arms to Iraq through Syria.

"Syria has a government that is completely incapable of reforming itself. It has one of the most stagnant economies in the world and a political system that is so opaque that no one knows who’s really in control there. It depends on over a billion dollars in revenue through smuggling oil from Iraq. One could say they wouldn’t survive without it," Mr. Gambill said.

Those oil revenues are the reason Syria hesitated so much before voting in favor of the U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq, Mr. Gambill said.

The president of the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon, Ziad Abdelnour, has been fighting for years to end Syria’s occupation of Lebanon. He is frustrated with America’s reluctance to help rid his native country of the Syrians, which have occupied Lebanon since 1976.

He says the only reason Syria is left alone is because of America’s good relationship with Saudi Arabia, the country he says is Syria’s "sugar daddy."

© Copyright 1997-2004 United States Committee For A Free Lebanon. All rights reserved.

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