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Books on Syria
REPUBLICAN REFERENCE
Area (sq.km)
185,180
Population
17,585,540
Capital
Damascus
Currency
Syrian pound (SYP)
President
Bashir al-Asad
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Update No: 011 - (04/10/04)
Another wake-up call for Syria, as it's
reminded of its weakness
In what will certainly raise several questions about security and military
strength, Israel once again struck inside Syria with impunity killing Izz El-Deen
Sheikh Khalil, a member of Hamas, who had lived in Syria since Israel expelled
him from Gaza in 1992. Israel has not officially taken responsibility, but
Israeli security has admitted to its involvement and shown that it can strike in
Syria - and elsewhere in the Middle East - whenever it wants. This was the
second time that Israel has attacked Syria since the end of the 1973 war when
Syria was still perceived as a champion of Arab nationalism and strength.
Indeed, in October of 2003 Israeli planes flew over the Syrian capital and
bombed what was supposed to be a terrorist training facility facing no
opposition whatsoever. The killing of the Hamas leader in September merely
reminded Syria of the precarious position it is facing. Frequent accusations by
advisors to the US administration about Syria's dangerous arsenals of weapons of
mass destruction, Syria did not retaliate. Indeed, Syria's military forces are
all but obsolete, a fact made all the more obvious by the ease with which the US
disposed of the supposedly much more powerful Iraqi army in the first few weeks
of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The recent attack comes as another embarrassing
reminder to a leadership obsessed with control - an aspect it cultivates
relentlessly through all forms of communication - that so far as its borders are
concerned, it has none. Whatever, political and economic reforms were being
planned, the attack has once again brought up the concern over Syria's military
preparedness and the efficiency of its internal security apparatus. President
Bashir Al-Asad, who took over from his father in a more optimistic climate
promising wide scale reforms will be curbed in his efforts. The attack will no
doubt focus the government's attention to security issues and away from the
reforms that were slowly opening the country economically and - more marginally
- politically.
For its part the United States has not condemned or even raised minor concerns
over the incident supporting Israel in its pursuit of 'terrorists' and
'terrorist' groups beyond its borders. The fact that truly underlines Syria's
political and military helplessness is that it faces a 'damned if you don't,
damned if you do' attitude from the current powers in the Middle east region.
Syria is literally caught in a sandwich between the United States in Iraq, and
Israel. The 'with us or against us' philosophy that has characterized US foreign
policy since the WTC attacks has changed the United States' already slanted role
toward Israel into a role that the Arab world increasingly perceives as uniquely
favouring Israel. Moreover, while US policy could not be any clearer. It still
insists that Syria adopt concrete measures to stop the flow of foreign fighters
filterting through its borders into Iraq. Last month, the United States had also
pressured Syria on the Lebanese front suggesting it was applying influence
beyond its competence into the Lebanese presidential election.
While Syria retorted that the United States was interfering in the former
country's special relationship with Lebanon, in late September there was a
noteworthy re-deployment of Syrian troops in Lebanon. Clearly, Syria cannot
expect to confront Israel or the United States on the military front and it will
now be forced to negotiate a new role for itself in the region. More
significantly, it is the Ba'ath leadership of Syria that will be most concerned
in maintaining power. The only course the Syrian leadership can choose,
therefore, is to strengthen its diplomatic channels with the European Union
while quietly cooperating with the US in fulfilling agreements over the issue of
border control. Of course, it is ever more doubtful that Damascus will agree to
harbouring Palestinian groups in the near future as their presence - as was the
case in Lebanon in 1982 - offers excuses for Israeli and US interventions that
will generate little furore in diplomatic circles. The UN while condemning
actions such as the murder of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil has no bite. Lately, in
fact, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Sept. 2 drafted by France
and the United States also asked Syria to pull its forces out of Lebanon and
stop meddling in its neighbour's internal affairs. Syria seemed to be able to
place a soft pressure on Israel through Hamas, and more directly through
Hezbollah in Lebanon. Palestinian leaders often travel across the border to
Lebanon, which is controlled by Syria, where they can conduct business. So far
Syria has denied that Hamas leaders it is harbouring have been asked to leave;
nevertheless, everything would suggest that this will happen quietly if not
overtly and Palestinian activists said last week all Palestinian factions with
offices in Syria had decided to close to avoid further problems for their hosts
in view of the increased US pressure.
Moreover, Syria has also started to re-deploy 16,000 troops in Lebanon in
response to the recent UN resolution drafted by the United States and France -
even if the move was claimed to be prompted by resolution 1559 asking for the
withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. Arab diplomats have suggested
that this decision has in fact been taken as a response to U.S. projects for a
Greater Middle East. The project involves the effective embarrassment of Arab
regimes that have failed to adopt democratising reforms and more market oriented
economics in order to bring about change. The policy is important to the United
States, which has launched the Iraq war ostensibly to jump-start a process of
renewal in the region. A process that has, heretofore, failed to bring about any
of the supposedly desired reforms. Some Arab diplomats have also suggested that
the Israeli attack on the Hamas Sheikh was also an attempt to try and sabotage
the newly found Syrian cooperation with Washington. Syria has been addressing
American concerns over border controls and reached an understanding in recent
weeks over the problem. As a demonstration of the supine attitude to which Syria
has been relegated merely a few days after the murder of the Hamas leader, a US
delegation visited Damascus and pressed the Syrian leadership to cooperate on
controlling the long Syrian-Iraqi border.
Meanwhile, Syria oblivious to the fact no one fears its bite, insisted that the
sudden redeployment was not the result of external pressure, but was, in fact,
mandated by the 1989 reconciliation pact known as the Taif Accord, named after
the Saudi Arabian city where the accords were brokered, and which put an end to
the Lebanese civil war. Under this agreement, Syria was supposed to re-deploy
its troops and eventually pull them out as peace and stability was restored. For
his part, Syrian President Bashar Assad stressed Syria's international
responsibilities and the importance of respecting all international decisions
without exception hinting at the fact his government had acted also in response
to the September 9th U.N. resolution. While, this development would normally
bode well and suggest the chance of better relations between the United States
and Syria, senior US officials to the State Department have denied this. Indeed,
the United States continues to charge that Syria has been trying to undermine
the interim government in Iraq. In the long agenda of accusations against Syria,
the US has also added that the Asad regime has been harbouring senior operatives
of Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi - the new Bin Laden - blamed for just about every
terror act in Iraq - former aides to Saddam Hussein and not to be outdone Iraqi
nuclear scientists as part of a joint Syrian - Iranian master plan. The near
future of Syria may well be encapsulated by the unnamed US official's menacing
statement: "If Americans are dying in Iraq because of Syrian policies, then
this is something we are not going to tolerate," a senior official said.
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FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Turkish, Syrian ministers initial free trade agreement
Turkish State Minister, Kursad Tuzmen, and the Syrian minister of trade, Ghassan
al-Rifa'i, initialled a Turkey-Syria free trade agreement on August 28th. Tuzmen
said that the free trade agreement which was initialled between Turkey and Syria
was a historical chance for the two countries. The agreement would be signed
before the end of 2004 under the instructions of prime ministers of Turkey and
Syria, he noted, Anatolia News Agency reported.
Tuzmen stressed that they aimed to further develop relations with regional
countries and create the atmosphere of peace, tranquillity and stability.
"We will see that putting into practice the free trade agreement which was
initialled today will be a turning point for commercial and political relations
between Turkey and Syria," Tuzmen underlined.
The Syrian minister of trade, Ghassan al-Rifa'i, thanking organizations of
private sectors of the two countries for their contributions and constructive
attitude, said that they believed that the free trade agreement would contribute
to joint interests of Turkey and Syria. They wanted the agreement to be signed
and put into practice as soon as possible, Al-Rifa'i noted.
Stating that the two countries would also work together in three other areas,
Al-Rifa'i listed those areas as establishing border trade centres, forming free
zones and making good use of fields which would be cleared from mines for joint
projects.
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PETROCHEMICALS
Syria-Iran establishing joint petrochemical FTZ
Syrian Minister of Economy and Commerce has called for the establishment of an
Iran-Syrian free trade zone (FTZ) to market Iran's petrochemical products,
Petroenergy Information Network (PIN) reported.
Iran's Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ali Abdolalizadeh signed a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Syrian minister in Damascus on Thursday.
During the signing ceremony, the two sides called for boosting economic and
trade cooperation between the two countries. The Iranian Minister stated that
trade exchanges between the two countries will hit $3 bln within the next three
years.
He stressed the necessity for the further vitalization of private sectors of the
two countries and expressed optimism over boosting economic cooperation between
Iran and Syria.
According to the report, the Minister announced that the Syrian Minister of
Economy and Commerce Dr. Qassan Alrafaei would visit Iran's petrochemical
industries in November 2004.
The Syrian minister noted that the major topics discussed in the meeting
included joint meeting of the commerce committees, investigating ways to
activate preferential trade exchanges, paving grounds for the two countries'
entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and removing the obstacles on the
way to further development of relations between the two countries.
Also, Iran and Syria agreed to hold two Syrian specialized exhibitions in Iran.
The two countries have also decided to follow up engineering surveys aimed at
modernization and development of the industrial slaughterhouse in Damascus as
well as taking steps for the construction of another slaughterhouse in the
Syrian city of Hams.
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