Italy warns Syria

Italy has warned Syria that the international community will not turn a blind eye to illegal arms shipments to Hizbullah.

Italian foreign minister Massimo D’Alema called on Damascus to respect UN resolution 1701.

“The resolution forbids transfer of armaments,” D’Alema said in a radio interview on Wednesday.

“There are ways in which the trafficking of arms can be monitored. If arms are leaving Syria and the resolution is violated, the international community will find out. We will not sit back and watch.”

“We call on Syria to cooperate,” he added.

Referring to a conversation between Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the foreign minister said Rome had received “very clear guarantees.”

But he warned that they “must now be backed up by actions.”

Italy’s new centre left administration has arrived on the international stage with a bang – pushing to lead EU troops in the Middle East while also forging transatlantic ties.

D'Alema, who talks of his new friend "Condi" (US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice), said this week the government had proved its critics wrong.

"Those who predicted the Prodi government would fall on foreign policy and a break with the US," he declared.

And for the moment most Italians are behind the government - a recent poll shows 51 per cent back Italy sending thousands of troops to bolster the UN mission to Lebanon.

This contrasts with the war in Iraq where the majority was against Italy's military presence.

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