����WASHINGTON, April 10 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
phoned Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this week to express concerns
over a possible second front in the Middle East conflict opening along
Israel's northern border with Lebanon, The Washington Post reported on
Wednesday.
����In the latest of a series of exchanges over the past two
weeks,Israel launched airstrikes on Tuesday against a southern Lebanese
village in response to rocket attacks on a disputed frontier area by the
militant group Hezbollah.
����During his unusual conversation with Assad, Cheney warned that the
border situation could spiral out of control in the current volatile
atmosphere and undermine already-fragile U.S. peace efforts.
����Syria has denied that either it or Lebanon is interested in opening
a second front and has charged Israel with provocations and airspace
violations.
����Assad redeployed members of its 25,000-man Lebanese garrison toless
threatening positions last week in an apparent effort to easetensions.
����But Israeli Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh, who held talks in
Washington on Tuesday with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard
Armitage, said his government had asked for U.S. pressure on Syria.
����Sneh said Hezbollah activity "may bring about another flare-up that
we don't want to happen, and I am sure that the United Statesis doing its
part to defuse this ticking bomb." Enditem
