Syrian ambassador says he's accustomed to recalls

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (AFP) - Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha on Tuesday played down the recall of his US counterpart from Damascus, saying it was a normal procedure between governments and their ambassadors.
"I was recalled to Damascus nine times by my government in the past year only," the diplomat told CNN television.
He said he was not aware if Damascus would take a similar step, but pointed out he did not see any reason for the Syrian government to recall its own ambassador because "Syria is not involved" in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
Moustapha said an ambassadorial recall did not necessarily amounted to a downgrading of diplomatic relations.
The US State Department announced Tuesday the recall of its ambassador to Syria, Margaret Scobey, following Hariri's assassination.
Moustapha denied his country was involved in the attack in any way, stating: "Syria has nothing to benefit from what has happened."

02/15/2005 23:26 GMT - AFP