Word: assad
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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During the first days, as Flight 847 crisscrossed the Mediterranean from Athens to Beirut to Algiers, Reagan's advisers sent messages to various world leaders -- including Syria's Hafez Assad, Algeria's Chadli Bendjedid and Lebanon's Amin Gemayel -- asking them to use their influence to end the crisis. Though a number of hostages were released at each stop, none of the leaders was able to effect a quick resolution. Washington moved military forces, including elements of the Army's elite Delta Force, into the region. "Our hope was that the plane would never leave Algeria," says a State Department...
...most clearly enhanced diplomatic position, if only because of such previously abysmal relations with the Reagan Administration, belonged to Syria and its President for the past 14 years, Hafez Assad. In putting his prestige on the line by guaranteeing the safe delivery of the 39 U.S. hostages from their various Shi'ite captors, including the fanatics of Hizballah (Party of God), Assad convincingly demonstrated that he controls many of the levers of power in seemingly chaotic Lebanon. Ronald Reagan acknowledged Syria's "central responsibility" in the successful efforts to free the hostages, and the President also telephoned his thanks...
...best. State Department Spokesman Bernard Kalb pointedly remarked that Syria remained on the list of countries that the U.S. regards as sponsors of terrorism "because according to reliable reports a number of terrorist organizations have received some form of support" from Damascus. Furthermore, there is no sign that Assad has wavered in his firm opposition to a peace initiative put forward by Jordan's King Hussein and Palestine Liberation Organization Leader Yasser Arafat, which calls for direct negotiations with Israel. Assad is unhappy that Hussein and Arafat are acting without Damascus' consent. The Syrian President also insists that any settlement...
...concessions to terrorists, a violation of national policy. Last week, barely a day after the hostages were freed, Israeli officials ordered the repatriation of 300 of the Lebanese detainees, leaving about 460 still awaiting release from Atlit prison. Nor did the Israelis enjoy watching the U.S. becoming indebted to Assad, whom they regard as Jerusalem's most dangerous enemy. Finally, Israel suffered in U.S. public opinion, at least early in the crisis. A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken as the hostages were being released showed that one-third of the sample agreed with the assertion that "the U.S. should...
Still another motive for Assad's cooperation was his own future standing in Middle East politics. Partly to make the point to Washington that Damascus is a useful place to do business in the area, Assad has helped out in previous prisoner situations, notably the release of downed U.S. Navy Flyer Robert Goodman in 1984 and possibly the freeing of CNN Beirut Correspondent Jeremy Levin in February. One possible U.S. favor Assad may have in mind in exchange for his latest assistance: a request for U.S. pressure on Israel to abandon its so-called security zone in southern Lebanon...