Word: assad
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When tensions between Jordan's King Hussein and Syria's President Hafez Assad threatened an outbreak of hostilities early this winter, the Saudis skillfully stepped in and cajoled the saber-rattling neighbors into a wary detente. Some diplomats now believe that the Saudis may even be getting ready to make political peace with Sadat, with whom they broke relations in protest over the Camp David peace accord...
Levy took the initiative in the buttonholing campaign. His recruiting centered on half a dozen independents. One was Samuel Flatto-Sharon, a businessman who had been convicted in France on fraud charges and is currently on trial for bribery in Israel. Another was Shafik Assad, a Druze member from Galilee. The independents were courted with a wide range of inducements: for Assad, a new community center for his native village; for others, promises of deputy ministershlps. Even among Begin's own aides, the reaction to the brazen corridor bargaining verged on outrage. "It's never happened before that...
...result of the war between Iraq and Iran. The open support of Jordan and the tacit backing of Saudi Arabia and the gulf states for Syria's archenemy, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, has left Syria feeling isolated and threatened. Some military analysts believe that one of Assad's motives in provoking the border confrontation was to blunt the possibility that Jordanian troops would be dispatched to Iraq to help in its stalemated struggle with Iran. As one U.S. analyst put it last week, "Assad wanted to remind everybody that Syria was still there...
...Jordanian-Syrian confrontation began just before an Arab summit in Amman two weeks ago. Assad learned that the new "moderate" axis of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq intended to attack Syria at the conference for supporting Iran, a Muslim but non-Arab nation, in the gulf war. Syria abruptly announced that it would boycott the session, and so did Algeria, Libya, South Yemen and the Palestine Liberation Organization. At the same time, Syria massed a total of 36,000 troops along the Jordanian border to show its displeasure with King Hussein. The King responded by positioning 24,000 troops...
...major Syrian accusation was that Jordan has been "arming, training and financing" extremist elements of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, which wants to topple Assad's ten-year-old regime. Syrian television recently reported that Jordanian Prime Minister Mudar Badran had even visited Muslim Brotherhood camps near Irbid on the Jordanian side of the 240-mile common frontier. Damascus further charged that the Muslim Brotherhood, operating from clandestine camps in Jordan, has been able to launch a two-year campaign of assassinations and bombings within Syria. King Hussein has firmly denied the Syrian allegations, although he has legalized political activities...