[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 50 (Monday, December 18, 2006)]
[Pages 2156-2157]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Government of Syria

December 13, 2006

    The United States supports the Syrian people's desire for democracy, 
human rights, and freedom of expression. Syrians deserve a government 
whose legitimacy is grounded in the consent of the people, not brute 
force.
    The Syrian regime should immediately free all political prisoners, 
including Aref Dalila, Michel Kilo, Anwar al-Bunni, Mahmoud Issa, and 
Kamal Labwani. I am deeply troubled by reports that some ailing 
political prisoners are denied health care while others are held in 
cells with violent criminals.
    Syria should disclose the fate and whereabouts of the many missing 
Lebanese citizens who ``disappeared'' following their arrest in

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Lebanon during the decades of Syrian military occupation. The Syrian 
regime should also cease its efforts to undermine Lebanese sovereignty 
by denying the Lebanese people their right to participate in the 
democratic process free of foreign intimidation and interference.
    The people of Syria hope for a prosperous future with greater 
opportunities for their children and for a government that fights 
corruption, respects the rule of law, guarantees the rights of all 
Syrians, and works toward achieving peace in the region.