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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | ||||
| Sustained US pressure could pose problems for Syria's Assad | ||||
| 2005-03-14 | ||||
Squeezing Assad further could present the young Syrian leader with serious domestic problems at a time when some question the extent of control he has over his Arab nation. "The pressure will continue until Syria achieves every US goal," said Ayman Abdel-Nour, a prominent member of Assad's ruling Baath party. "Syria will be left alone only when it no longer has a regional role, its influence in Iraq is gone, it severs links with Hamas, Jihad, Iran and Hezbollah," he said from Damascus.
However, there are signs that Washington may be looking for much more from Syria than just pulling out its troops from Lebanon. "The sequence needs to be: Get Syrian troops out of Lebanon, get free and fair elections, get a democratic government in place," US national security adviser Stephen Hadley said on Sunday American talk shows. Aside from its military role in Lebanon, Syria has maintained a strong influence over Lebanese politics. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Syria was "out of step" with what she called the growing desire for democracy in the Middle East, suggesting that Assad needed to introduce economic and political reforms at home. "If the pressure grows and the Americans begin to hint at regime change, some here may be tempted to think they are the substitute the United States is looking for," George Jabour, a member of Syria's parliament and an eminent political scientist, said from Damascus. "But this may not happen for some time yet," he said.
Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Jihad, which between them are responsible for scores of suicide bombings against Israeli targets, also have offices in Damascus, something that Washington views as proof of Syria's support for terrorism. Syria is also Iran's closest Arab ally and both countries are thought to cooperate in security matters. Washington suspects that Tehran's clerical regime is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge. Already, some experts on Syria say, images of Syrian troops heading home from Lebanon gave the impression of an army in retreat, thus hurting Assad's standing as the armed forces' supreme commander and prompting some in Syria to ponder whether his more politically savvy father would have handled the crisis differently. "Syria will lose its traditional regional role when the withdrawal from Lebanon is complete," said Michel Kilo, a prominent Syrian writer and a government critic. "Now, reforms at home must be a top priority," he said from the Syrian capital. Kilo, like many Syrians, is hopeful the ruling Baath party will announce a comprehensive reform plan when its much-heralded national conference takes place later this year. The gathering was scheduled to take place late last year, but it was postponed, giving rise to intense speculation in Damascus that differences existed within the party leadership.
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| Posted by:Steve White |