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U.S. Seeks Anti-Terror Support From Venezuela
Friday, November 9, 2001
(23:57 GMT)

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Reuters
The U.S. ambassador in Venezuela, where the government has expressed misgivings over the war in Afghanistan, urged the South American nation on Friday to give unstinting support to the anti-terrorism fight.

Ambassador Donna Hrinak made the appeal during a speech to a group of deputies, diplomats and other dignitaries at the Venezuelan National Assembly. The address was her first public comment since returning from consultations in Washington to discuss the attitude of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his government toward the U.S. raids on Afghanistan.

Chavez earned a public rebuke from the U.S. government earlier this month when he called for an end to "the killing of innocents in Afghanistan," saying civilian casualties caused by the U.S. bombing campaign were "unacceptable."

U.S. officials expressed "surprise and disappointment" at the remarks by Chavez, who said later he had not meant to criticize specifically the American military response to the Sept. 11 suicide air attacks in New York and Washington.
(More: CNN.com News Source)
2001 © Reuters.

Dan