Word: assad
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...virtually consigned Syria to the role of regional pariah. Moscow's economic pullback from the region threatened only to deepen Syria's isolation. By honoring the U.N. embargo and casting its lot with the pan-Arab force, Syria aims to reintegrate into the Arab and international fold. President Hafez Assad has not taken a front role in the current drama, but he did issue an early condemnation of Iraq's action, warning that if other nations pursued a similar course, "the world would resemble a jungle...
What Bush is doing is all he can -- or should -- do. He has publicly thanked President Hafez Assad for his help in freeing Polhill, boosting the Syrian's prestige. He has passed the word that he is ready to talk with Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani. This sort of thing makes it easier for Syria and Iran to put pressure on the terrorists holding the hostages...
...been pushing Syria to take a more active role in securing the hostages' freedom. It was no accident that President Bush sent Syrian President Hafez Assad a warm congratulatory message on the 44th anniversary of Syrian independence last week. Syria's influence over Hizballah has been partly limited by the fact that Damascus is a supporter of the Shi'ite Amal, a secular Muslim group that continues to fight fierce battles with the fundamentalist Hizballah. But Hussein Musawi, leader of a pro-Syrian faction within Hizballah, is now believed to have taken control of the American hostages held...
When Lieut. General Hafez Assad seized power in Damascus in a 1970 military coup, he locked up many members of the previous regime, who are still behind bars. Eighteen people -- including Jadid, who was the strongman of the earlier government -- have remained in prison without charge or trial since their arrests between 1970 and 1972. Though the detainees, who are held in the notoriously grim Mezze military prison near Damascus, are allowed visitors, President Assad's government does not acknowledge that they are imprisoned...
...Lebanon is convulsed by feudal warfare, pitting Christians against not only Muslims but, increasingly, rival Christians. Saudi Arabia has long forbidden any open Christian activity. By contrast, Islam is not the state religion in autocratic Syria and its 10% Christian minority will apparently be secure as long as Hafez Assad holds power...