Word: assad
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...track of precisely where they were holding the hostages. But Syria could have helped, according to a Western intelligence report that reached the Israeli government. The report claimed that whenever and wherever the hostages were moved, "the Syrians get an update." The report further claimed that Syrian President Hafez Assad asked his close aides to determine whether it was in his interest to help the Americans get their hostages freed. The unanimous recommendation was no, but Syria might profitably help France retrieve its captives...
...collapse of the Soviet Union and the cutoff of most of its aid carried a blunt message to Syria, another major backer of terrorists. There was no longer any likelihood of becoming a regional superpower with armaments supplied by Moscow. As Iran took a more moderate course, Syrian President Assad had to worry about becoming isolated if he continued to support the extremist factions...
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait marked the beginning of the end of the hostage drama. First, 15 pro-Iranian terrorists were released from prison in Kuwait, eliminating one of the Hizballah factions' principal demands. Then Assad weighed the odds and joined Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the international coalition arrayed against his archenemy Saddam Hussein. When Iraq's army was destroyed, Arab extremism and rejectionism suffered a devastating blow. The U.S. emerged as the only superpower with influence in the region and was actively trying to restart the Middle East peace process...
...Assad decided to try diplomacy, the only game in town. The U.S. responded to the shift and to Syria's cooperation against Iraq with modifications of its own. Washington signaled that instead of trying to force Syria out of Lebanon, where its "peacekeeping" forces had settled in, the U.S. might be able to live with Syria as the dominant power there...
...pressure is being placed on Syrian leader Hafez el-Assad, and why Bush wants the Golan to be in Assad's hands is a mystery. Is Assad going to plant Dutch tulips on the mountain's rolling slopes or would it be more along the lines of the 24 North Korean scud missiles Syria purchased in the wake of last year's Gulf...