http://www.latimes.com SHOWDOWN WITH IRAQ Syria Works to Polish Its Image Arab nation opposes war with Iraq but supported U.N. arms inspections. Its young president has made overtures to the West. By John Daniszewski Times Staff Writer
February 20, 2003
DAMASCUS, Syria -- If there's any Middle Eastern government with reason to feel nervous about a U.S. invasion of Iraq -- besides Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's -- it is probably here in Syria.
War next door could bring not only sharp economic pain -- Syria could lose its sweetheart deal for cheap Iraqi oil -- but also the risk of social unrest, waves of refugees and a chance that biological or chemical releases could spill across the border, analysts here say.
Beyond that, the government here knows that some influential Western opinion-makers and politicians think of Syria as little more than Iraq II, painting it as a dictatorship bent on supporting terrorism, suppressing human rights and acquiring weapons of mass destruction. The fear is that hawks in the West on the issue of Iraq would not mind someday leaning on Syria too.
But rather than retreat into a defensive shell, Syrian President Bashar Assad has been laboring to shore up his nation's image, renew friendships in Europe and Russia and mount a diplomatic offensive to solidify the Arab consensus against military action.
"War against Iraq would have a direct impact on our economy," Assad argued in December while visiting London. "It would widen the gap between the Arabs and the West, set us back decades and greatly stimulate terrorism."
The most visible symbol of Syria's cooperation with the West was its surprising vote on the U.N. Security Council in November to support a tough new round of Iraqi arms inspections.
But the 37-year-old Assad -- who came to power in 2000, shortly after the death of his father, President Hafez Assad -- has been reaching out in other ways, diplomats here say. The moves include providing intelligence on terrorism to the U.S., such as sharing information gained from interrogating Mohammed Haydar Zammar, an alleged recruiter of the Sept. 11 terrorists who is now in Syrian custody.
Bashar Assad's government has also appointed fresh faces to argue Syria's case to the world community and reined in violent incidents along Israel's border with Lebanon, a Syrian client state.
Assad's new spokeswoman, Bouthaina Shabaan, is upfront in saying her country has an image problem.
The picture of Syria held by many in the West is "almost the inverse of the reality," she argued. Rather than supporting terrorism, she asserted, Syria has been fighting Islamic militants of the Al Qaeda type for decades. And rather than wanting to acquire weapons of mass destruction, she said, Syria wants to rid the region of them.
She also denies her nation is unalterably opposed to Israel, saying Syria wants the Middle East's agony ended and offers peace, security and normal ties if Israel withdraws to its pre-1967 borders, restoring to the Arabs the formerly Syrian Golan Heights and other territories.
To a reporter strolling the shady stone alleys of Damascus, lined with its ancient churches and mosques, quaint antiques shops and busy cafes dispensing Lebanese wine, strong Turkish coffee and Oriental pastries, Syria does feel an oasis in a turbulent part of the globe.
Because of the nation's secular government, this capital recalls an era when the Arab street did not seem so at war with Western ideas and was less infused with religious zealotry. Cars from the 1950s and '60s -- old Mercedes and Chevrolets and Plymouths with huge tail fins -- drive by, reinforcing a sense of a time warp. A stagnant socialist economy, one of the things Assad says he wants to change, has kept people nursing along old jalopies.
Compared with regimes in the Persian Gulf states or even Jordan and Egypt, Syria's government keeps overt appeals to religion out of public life. Christians and Muslims abide in relative peace. Women who do not wear veils or men who smoke or drink alcohol in public, even during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, are not demonized. And the margins of political and economic freedom have widened a little, as witnessed by new TV programs and private newspapers that criticize government decisions and poke fun at the country's Alawite Muslim elite.
"I'll tell you the truth," said Pierre Ashkar, a craftsman in Damascus' Christian quarter, putting out wood inlaid tables for export to Europe and the U.S. on the street where St. Paul is said to have found his faith two millenniums ago. "This is a good country. People can live well here. And there is peace."
Of course, part of that peace is due to a tightly controlled system, in which multiple security forces limit dissent. There was a revolt against the government by the Islamic-extremist Muslim Brotherhood, but the dissidents were defeated in 1982 with iron-fisted tactics, and the country has been quiet internally since.
Assad's program of modernization and modest reforms -- while significant in terms of recent Syrian history -- do not begin to address the main concern of Western critics. The U.S. keeps Syria on its list of countries that support terrorism due to the regime's failure to curtail Hezbollah activities in Lebanon and its hosting of representatives of extreme Palestinian groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
Syria argues that such groups are not terrorists but should be considered part of legitimate resistance to Israeli occupation.
Nevertheless, sources in Damascus said, Assad's government has worked for the past six months to limit Hezbollah attacks, reducing the number of incidents near Israel's border with Lebanon, and is only allowing the Palestinian groups inside Syria to offer information.
"They keep them 'under their elbow' so to speak," a European diplomat here said. "They are not stupid enough to give them a green light to act. Most of all, they want to have all the options so that they can be reckoned with."
In the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Syria joined the U.S.-led campaign to force Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, assistance that had little military consequence but helped the U.S. politically. Then-President George Bush later repaid Hafez Assad by pressing Israel to attend a peace conference in Madrid aimed at mediating the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Given the highly charged climate in the Middle East these days, few expect that such a deal can be repeated. Syria has argued in both Arab League meetings and at the U.N. Security Council in recent days against any U.S.-led war. But in case of war, the diplomat said, Syria is unlikely to "cause problems."
Left to its own devices, Syria might evolve in a direction that the West would like. Unlike his father, a military man who rarely left the Middle East, Bashar Assad was educated as an eye doctor in London, has a British Syrian wife and feels at home in Europe. Since becoming president, he has visited Britain and France, and their leaders in turn have encouraged him to intensify his reforms.
"The British estimate of Bashar after 2 1/2 years of rule is that he is a realistic, moderate and cautious leader who is gaining steadily in authority and who is genuinely committed to the reform and modernization of his country -- without, however, taking undue risks by moving too fast," British journalist Patrick Seale, a Syria specialist and biographer of Hafez Assad, wrote recently.
Syria has been cooperating in identifying elements of Al Qaeda. While details have been few, senior diplomats in Damascus said the help has been significant -- and the Syrians would like it recognized.
"They feel they are not rewarded," the European diplomat commented.
The reforms begun by Assad also have not received much notice, mostly because many outsiders are not convinced that he will go far enough. Inside Syria, a professional woman said the improvements should not be exaggerated. "They are the same regime but with some amelioration," she said.
When he assumed power, Assad initially allowed an era of relative openness and freedom of speech that came to be known as the "Damascus spring." More than 700 political prisoners were released, one prison was closed, and the number of special security courts was reduced. Civic forums were held at which people voiced concerns about government decisions and long-term aims for the country.
However, by late 2001 a political chill returned with the arrests of 11 prominent government opponents, including two members of parliament. Whether the detentions were done at Assad's initiative or forced on him by the "old guard" still remaining from his father's era, they signaled a resumption of limits on political expression.
Cartoonist Ali Farzat, the editor of the satirical daily newspaper Al Domari, said the crackdown was a shock, but he does not believe democratization has been halted. Farzat was allowed to start one of the country's first private newspapers under the younger Assad.
"There are some limits known to everyone, such as talking about military secrets or defaming people or making groundless accusations, but now we clearly can criticize things such as official institutions and ministries," he said.
"No doubt some things still need to be revealed and more transparency is needed, but things are slowly going better," he said. "In some fields you can go faster and in some slower."
In a sign that some openness remains, 15 private newspapers and magazines have been established and publications from abroad are allowed to circulate, including Time, Newsweek and the relatively free-wheeling press of Beirut. Limits on satellite television have been lifted.
One area that Assad clearly cares about is the Internet. Even before becoming president, he was the chief force behind the Syrian Computer Society. One of his initiatives since taking power has been to found the Syrian Virtual University -- a distance learning program that allows students to enroll in U.S. and other foreign universities without leaving the country. A network of 15 high-speed computer "telecenters" has been set up, allowing students in the Arab world to receive the region's first online degrees.
"I think he is a pioneer," said Hadi Abut Ouk, the information technology director for the virtual university. "Two years ago we did not have anything [as far as the Internet was concerned], and now we have a virtual university. It was his vision."
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
>From eye doctor to president
Here are some facts about Syrian President Bashar Assad:
Family: Bashar Assad, 37, was the third of five children of Syrian President Hafez Assad and grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Basil. Bashar became the heir apparent after Basil was killed in a car crash in January 1994.
Education: After graduating from the Lycee Francais in Damascus, Bashar studied medicine at Damascus University, specializing at the Tishrin Military Hospital as an ophthalmologist, and received training in London.
Ascension: The ruling Baath Party elected Bashar its leader a week after his father's death in June 2000. A month later, Syrian voters endorsed him as their new president, giving him 97% support in a referendum.
Interests: Unlike his father and brother, Bashar was not by nature a military man. But he returned to Syria for military service after his brother's death. He used his role as head of the Syrian Computer Society to build bridges to the nation's intelligentsia and technocrats.
Marriage: Bashar married Asma Akhras, a Syrian woman who grew up in London, on Jan. 1, 2001.
Goal: When he assumed the presidency, Bashar said the recovery of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in 1967, "is at the top of our national priorities."