To Punish Syria, U.S. Needs Others’ Support

President Reagan wants to punish Syria for its support of terrorism by imposing additional political and economic sanctions, Administration officials said Monday, but there is not much Washington can do without the help of other Western nations.

“We don’t have a hell of a lot of handles,” one official said. “Many steps have already been taken. What is left is only a few bits and pieces.”

The Administration’s chief counterterrorism strategist, L. Paul Bremer III, has been dispatched to Europe to try to drum up support for a variety of trade and diplomatic steps to isolate Syria. He was in London on Monday and planned to go on to other Western European nations later in the week.

‘A United Front’

“The idea is to have more of a united front in a civilized stand against states that support terrorism,” a State Department official said. “Bremer’s mission is to try to get more of a coalition of Western nations.”

Such efforts have not proved very successful in the past because European nations have been reluctant to rupture trade and economic relations just because the United States accuses a nation of supporting terrorism. The foreign ministers of the European Communities, meeting Monday in Luxembourg, failed to agree on common measures against Syria, despite pleas from the British government.

On Friday, Britain broke diplomatic relations with Damascus and the United States withdrew its ambassador after a British jury convicted Nezar Hindawi, 32, a Jordanian citizen, of trying to smuggle a bomb aboard an El Al jumbo jet at London’s Heathrow Airport. The British Foreign Office said there was conclusive evidence that Syria was involved in the plot. U.S. officials said Washington was persuaded by the evidence and held Syria responsible for the attempted bombing.

Americans on Board

The Tel Aviv-bound flight originated in New York, and more than half the passengers on board were Americans.

State Department spokesman Charles Redman said the United States is considering unilateral actions it could take against Syria in case other nations are reluctant to go along.

“The fact that we are consulting does not necessarily mean that everything has to be identical when we’ve reached the end of that decision-making process,” he said.

But other Administration officials said the list of unilateral actions available to Washington is very short.

Cutting Both Ways

The United States could, of course, follow Britain’s example and sever diplomatic relations. But a State Department official said such a move “would cut both ways.” He said Washington wants to maintain some official communications with Damascus for a variety of reasons.

The official said that a trade embargo would have only minimal impact on Syria because the United States imports only about $3 million in goods from Syria each year and exports about $150 million worth, all of it through private business channels. By the usual means of judging trade, the balance is highly favorable to the United States.

Washington already prohibits the export to Syria of anything that has even a tangential military use, such as trucks, chemicals and material for bulletproof vests.

The Administration earlier phased out a $3-million-a-year program to bring Syrian students to the United States.

An Empty Gesture

Another Administration official said it would be an empty gesture for Washington to prohibit Syrian airliners from landing in the United States or flying through U.S. airspace because none of them do that anyway. But the official said Western European nations could put pressure on Damascus by restricting commercial air service.

In the past, the United States has avoided harsh actions against Syria because it was urging President Hafez Assad’s regime to use its influence to try to win the release of U.S. hostages held in Lebanon. On Monday, Redman called on Syria to continue its efforts on behalf of the six Americans who are believed held by Muslim terrorists.

“Syrian officials, from President Assad on down, have said that they are exerting efforts to free the hostages as a humanitarian matter, independent of our bilateral relations,” Redman said. “We would expect the Syrians to continue their efforts. As far as we’re concerned, everyone should work to free these innocent victims.”