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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: 032 - (03/07/06)
Prestige Regained… at Israeli Expense
Syria's current allies in the Middle East Iran and Hamas have once again put
Syria at the centre of attention (apart from Iraq) in the region. The Israeli
invasion of Gaza, supposedly instigated by the kidnapping by Palestinian
militants of an IDF corporal and during which several Hamas government members
were arrested, provided Israel the opportunity to menace Syria as Israeli
warplanes flew over president Bashar Al-Asad's summer home in northern Syria.
Meanwhile, the US isolation of Syria has brought the country closer to Iran,
potentially involving it in any resolution or exacerbation of the crisis over
Iran's nuclear capability. This turn of events may have embarrassed Syria, but
it has also had the effect of rallying Arab support around Damascus. Indeed,
Israel said that it considers Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas' Syrian branch,
responsible for the abduction of Israeli soldiers and wants Syria to expel
Palestinian leaders from the country, threatening to kill Hamas members living
in Damascus, as well as members of the Palestinian government itself. Some press
sources, including al-Jazeera, quoted The Israeli Public Security Minister Avi
Dichter saying that Israel knows the whereabouts of Hamas and Islamic Jihad
leaders in Syria and that it would not hesitate to kill them. The Israeli
Justice minister, meanwhile, pressed the world community to put pressure on the
Syrian government to expel Khaled Meshal, whom Israel consider to be the
instigator of the Palestinian incursion into Israel and the most recent
abduction of one of its soldiers.
Such is the background, against which two Israeli F-16 aircraft flew, at
low-altitude, over the palace of Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad in Latakia, in
northwestern Syria. Even more provocatively, perhaps, is the fact that Israel
also threatened to kill the Hamas Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh if the Israeli
corporal was not released unharmed. The declared proximity between Syria and the
Palestinian Hamas leadership will certainly be tested should something happen to
Haniyeh or other leading Hamas members, who have been arrested in the last week
of June. Nevertheless, Israel's action, which was intended to intimidate, has
actually helped to boost Syria's position, one that many Arab governments
believe was compromised by strong allegations of Syrian involvement into the
murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Lebanon's own anti-Syrian
Prime Minister, Fuad Seniora, publicly sympathized with Syria over the Israeli
fly-over, as did Jordan and Qatar. Indeed, Syria might well benefit from this
support to regain some lost prestige among with some neighbours and Gulf States
as well as the Arab diplomatic driving force of Egypt. President Mubarak issued
a strong statement to Israel, implying that its bilateral treaty might be
repealed should it continue such policies, playing into Syria's long held view
that Middle East peace should be guaranteed by a comprehensive treaty, rather
than piecemeal efforts.
In addition, Syria's proximity to Hamas has also become important, as Arab
diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis related to the kidnapping of corporal
Gilad Shalit have focused on leveraging Syria's relations with Hamas to procure
his release. Predictably, the United States has taken a different view, one that
blames Syria because it hosts elements of the Hamas leadership. Hamas and
Islamic Jihad faction members were expelled from Jordan (as that country tried
to mend relations with the USA) going to Syria in the 1990's. President Bashir
al-Asad has refused to expel the Hamas leadership, as the US demanded. The
Israeli flyover complicates the US/Israeli position. Syria has regained Arab
support over the issue, whether or not Syria actually has any real influence
over Hamas (an organization of Sunni radicals, whereas the Syrian government is
dominated by the small Alawite sect, in conjunction with Ismaelis and Druses),
even as the wanted Mashaal has denied any role in the abduction of Shalit,
contrary to Israeli claims. Nevertheless, the issue has not been resolved and
the Israeli invasion of Gaza continues, making something of a mockery of the
so-called unilateral pullout of 2005 and jeopardizing bilateral treaties with
the Palestinian National Authority, which had even persuaded, just hours before
the Israeli invasion, Hamas to recognize the state of Israel. The question
remains, whether or not Israel will gamble (bilateral treaties with Egypt,
Jordan and the ANP) by taunting Syria again with a targeted assassination of
Meshaal in Damascus.
Should Israel continue to target Syria, it would boost president's Bashir al-Asad's
prestige further, and increasingly soften the position of regional critics of
his policies such as Lebanese prime minister Seniora or even president Mubarak
of Egypt and King Abdallah of Jordan. Syria would be seen by the masses of the
Middle East as the defender of Arab nationalism against the encroaching
influence of the United States and Israeli hostility. More neutral parties - the
European Union? - might also quietly interpret the current Israeli position of
refusal to consider a prisoner swap to secure the release of corp. Shalit as
provocative, softening its own position on Syria. Syria also has the other
advantage in that it can try (try being the operative word, as Syria's influence
over Hamas is questionable), to persuade Hamas to release Shalit quietly,
earning some diplomatic currency with the United States - which is already
forced to pay some US$50 million to replace the power station that Israel
destroyed in Gaza, which was insured by an American government agency.
Meanwhile, Syria has strengthened ties with its ally Iran, complicating matters
in view of efforts to influence the latter country's nuclear program and a
possible negotiated solution to the standoff. The Syrian and Iranian ministers
of Defence, Hassan Turkmani and Mustafa Mohammad Najar signed a military
cooperation agreement aiming to increase bilateral cooperation and
"eliminate weapons of mass destruction". Moreover, says the Syrian
National press, the agreement states that Iran shall consider Syria's security
"as its own". Interestingly, Iran has been strengthening diplomatic
relations with a number of countries including Egypt as President Hosni Mubarak
of Egypt recently met Iran's national security chief, Ali Larijani, in Cairo,
while the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, visited Tehran this
month and declared the two nations to be good friends. This may be one of the
ironic results of the US invasion of Iraq and the ascendancy of Shiite power. As
Iran carefully constructs its position in the Middle East, Syria's own position
will inevitably be bolstered in view of the long relationship it has with
Teheran. Syria may well be the interlocutor between Arab states and Teheran.
Syria's credibility is ensured by the fact its government is still secular, as
well as the fact that Syria has been able to maintain close relations to Sunni
as well as Shiite groups in the region such as Hamas and Hezbollah. The question
remains as to what will happen should Iran and the United States reach an
agreement over the nuclear program where Syria itself might be involved as part
of the deal.
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ENERGY
Syria inks deal with US firm for oil, gas fields
The Syrian government has signed a US$127m contract with a US company for oil
and gas exploration in the central region of the country, SANA News Agency
reported recently.
Under the 25-year contract signed with the state-run Syrian Oil Company, the
US-based Marathon Oil Company is to finance and develop two oil and gas fields,
the al-Shae'r and al-Sharyfah fields in north Homs, 162 kilometre north-west of
Damascus. SANA said some two million cubic metres of gas per day are expected to
be produced at the start of the exploration, in addition to some 5,000 barrels
of oil and 100 tonnes of liquid gas. Syrian Oil Minister, Sufian al-Allaw, said
Marathon would allocate US$50,000 per year for training employees of the Syrian
Oil Company throughout the period of the contract. Syria currently produces
600,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 22 million cubic metres of gas.
Damascus hopes to increase oil production by 100,000 barrels a day. Syria is one
of seven countries on a US list of state sponsors of terrorism, a matter which
prevents American companies from transferring advanced technology to the Arab
country. Nonetheless, a number of US companies are investing in Syria,
especially in oil and gas fields.
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