DATE=02/26/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-273056

TITLE=U-S/SYRIA PIPELINE (S-only)

BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE

DATELINE=BRUSSELS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Secretary of State Colin Powell says Syria has agreed to stop smuggling Iraqi oil that has not been approved for export by the United Nations sanctions committee. Baghdad is reported to be earning millions of dollars daily from oil allegedly being smuggled via a pipeline out of the country through Syria. Correspondent Nick Simeone reports.

TEXT: Secretary Powell says he received repeated assurances about the recently-opened pipeline from President Bashar al-Assad during his brief meeting with the Syrian leader in Damascus Monday.

/// POWELL ACT ///

I think the Syrians are serious about this, but of course the ultimate test of seriousness is when we see something happen. But, I don't think I would have gotten that kind of assurance, from that level, three times, unless they were serious.

/// END ACT ///

Syria is reported to be using a pipeline that runs from oilfields in northern Iraq to a Syrian port on the Mediterranean to smuggle in Iraqi oil and export more of its own. The Syrian government says it is only testing the pipeline. But any smuggling via the pipeline would constitute a major leak in United Nations sanctions against Baghdad. (SIGNED)

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