Word: assad
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...freedom. And there, in the middle, was Ronald Reagan, who a week earlier had declined to take Jackson's calls before the Baptist minister left for Damascus. But now the President graciously thanked the amateur envoy for his "personal mission of mercy." Any questions about Syrian President Hafez Assad's motives for releasing Goodman or the propriety of Jackson's engaging in foreign negotiations were lost in the fervor of the moment. As Reagan put it, "You don't quarrel with success...
...Marines from Beirut. Making no mention of its own 40,000 soldiers in eastern Lebanon, the Syrian government said its gesture should prompt Washington "to end its military involvement in Lebanon." Though Reagan remained opposed to a U.S. pullout now, he did send a thank-you message to Assad saying that "this is an opportune moment to put all the issues on the table...
...fired on U.S. reconnaissance planes over eastern Lebanon. During a retaliatory strike the next day, two U.S. fighter-bombers were shot down and Goodman was captured. The new mood could be seen in small ways: Syrian television and newspapers carried the full text of Reagan's note to Assad, while the U.S. President expressed a willingness to meet with the Syrian leader. Donald Rumsfeld, Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East, is now expected to see Assad on his current swing through the region...
Before talking with Assad, Jackson met with Syrian religious figures and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Though the Muslim and Christian leaders opposed Goodman's release, their American visitor made an impassioned plea for mercy. He then persuaded Mahmoud Labadi, a P.L.O. spokesman, to present Jackson's case for freeing Goodman to P.L.O. faction leaders in Damascus. It was they who subsequently urged the Syrians to give up the flyer...
After a two-hour talk Saturday with Syria's Foreign Minister, Jackson told reporters the Syrians feared that their freeing Goodman would encourage U.S. air missions over Lebanon. The Foreign Minister was vague about when-or whether-Jackson would meet Assad...