ROME, Sept 11: The “war on terror” declared by President George W. Bush after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the US has caused more terrorism than it has prevented, according to Syria.

On the seventh anniversary of the attacks, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem said Washington had ignored Syria’s advice not to rely on force only to stop terrorism.

“As we said to President Bush shortly after the tragic events on Sept 11, the fight against terrorism must begin at the roots, at the cause of terrorism,” Al Moualem told a news conference in Rome, where he was meeting Italy’s foreign minister.“The last thing we should use if that fails is the use of force, as a last resort. Unfortunately they have made the use of force the beginning and the end of the fight against terrorism and thus terrorism is much more widespread today than before.”Syria is viewed with hostility by Washington due to its closeness to some militant groups.

“Hezbollah and (Palestinian group) Hamas are not terrorists, they are national resistance movements against occupation,” Al Moualem said. “Whilst there is occupation there will be national resistance movements.”

With the mediation of Turkey, Syria is in indirect peace talks with Israel in which one of its key demands is that Israel return all of the Golan Heights it seized during the Six-Day War in 1967.

More than 2,500 people were killed on Sept 11, 2001, when four hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and a field in Pennsylvania.—Reuters