Word: assad
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...were actually prepared to leave. It was understood by the three countries that Israel would not withdraw its estimated 38,000 troops from Lebanon until the 50,000 Syrian troops and the 10,000 to 15,000 Palestine Liberation Organization commandos had first been removed, and Syrian President Hafez Assad has made it clear that he has no intention of cooperating...
...question, as Washington steps up its contacts with Syria, is just what the U.S. can offer Assad as an effective inducement. As long as Israel's artillery is within 14 miles of Damascus, an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon should be the primary incentive. A longer-range Syrian goal is recovery of the Golan Heights. Shultz said last week that he was not "applying" for the job of negotiator between Syria and Lebanon. But once the perimeters of the problem have been established, probably under the guidance of Special Envoy Philip Habib, Shultz may have to embark on another exercise...
...resupplying Syria with large quantities of highly sophisticated weapons. The Soviet aim has been not merely to replace equipment lost when Syria tried to blunt Israel's invasion of Lebanon last June, but to increase Soviet influence in the region by offering the regime of Syrian President Hafez Assad more and better materiel than he had before. Moscow, moreover, has added a new dimension to its involvement in Syria by installing SA-5 missile bases that have to be manned by Soviet troops and technicians. Says a West European diplomat in Damascus: "For the first time, the Soviets have...
...basis for Soviet military assistance to Syria is a treaty of "friendship and cooperation" that was signed by Assad and former Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow in 1980. The pact was drawn up at a time when Syria's increasing isolation from other Arab countries was causing Assad to rethink a foreign policy that has been described as "acrobatic nonalignment." But even while courting Moscow's increased attentions, Assad has never been more than a reluctant Soviet suitor. For two years after the treaty's signing, Assad mysteriously failed to reappoint a Syrian Ambassador to Moscow...
...Tupolev airliners. A Syrian contract with the French to build an experimental nuclear reactor has been handed to the Soviets. Similarly, a $200 million Syrian deal with a Western consortium to build a major electrical generating plant was transferred to Moscow. Most diplomats feel that if given a choice, Assad would rather keep his business dealings in the West. The problem is that for the time being only Moscow is willing to sell Syria the military hardware that it craves...