Word: assad
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...release seemed to be a most unlikely liberator, Syria's Assad. Though he is an ironfisted dictator and a Soviet ally, Assad has carefully nurtured a reputation as a man who can be relied on to deliver on any deal to which he puts his name (see box). It was his involvement and coordination with Washington that produced Sunday's success...
Unwilling to bargain, unable to use force, the U.S. turned to indirect diplomacy. Late in the first day of the crisis Reagan secretly cabled Syrian President Hafez Assad and asked him to use his influence to free the hostages or at least keep them alive. Though the Damascus regime has harbored Shi'ite extremists in terrorist camps in Baalbek, a city in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Assad is known to want to contain Shi'ite terror, as he takes his turn at trying to pacify Lebanon. His response to the U.S. request, according to Administration aides, was "positive." Assad...
...widely believed that both Iran and Syria support and condone terrorism. Weinberger, for instance, claims that the U.S. has discovered strong links between Hizballah and the Khomeini regime. "Can anyone seriously doubt that Syria's Assad has the means or the methods to shut down operations like the TWA hijacking?" asked the Wall Street Journal. "We should give him the incentive to do so" -- by bombing Syrian military targets. Nonetheless, the degree of control exercised by Iran and Syria is a matter of dispute in intelligence circles. Some experts feel that both countries have lately sought to restrain...
...shooting at each other after a group of Amal militiamen tried to stop a car loaded with Druze. Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt agreed to a cease-fire but later, when asked how long it would last, replied, "Only God and Syria know." Given all these circumstances, Syrian President Hafez Assad was content to let the rival factions in Lebanon fight on for a while before he risks his own troops to try to restore order...
...Iranian officials -- indicate that Khomeini's regime may be in close touch with the terrorists, if not managing them. The camps enjoy at least the tacit support of Syria as well, since the Bekaa Valley is controlled by Damascus. In a remarkably candid speech last week, Syrian President Hafez Assad conceded that Syria was in contact with extremist groups who are holding seven Americans, four Frenchmen and one Briton, seized over the past 18 months. Assad mildly rebuked the kidnapers for violating a "code of honor between combatants," but praised them for "steadfastness...