Word: assad
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...last time a public call to duty occurred was in 1978. Both countries described their actions as routine, but the activity fed speculation about possible retaliation for the suicidal attacks against the U.S. Marine compound in Beirut* and an Israeli military base in Tyre. In response, Syrian President Hafez Assad placed his country's armed forces on alert too, including the calling up of an estimated 100,000 reservists. Washington and Jerusalem both publicly assured Assad that they had no intention of attacking Syria, but a suspicious Assad surely noted that the U.S. and Israel had agreed to forge...
...alarm over the spreading violence. At a banquet honoring Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam in Moscow late last week, Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko said that "we consider as extremely urgent the need to overcome strife and restore unity in the ranks of the Palestinian movement." The message to Assad: ease up on Arafat...
...troops in southern Lebanon and drove Arafat and his fighters out of Beirut. His dalliance with King Hussein of Jordan last April over President Reagan's September 1982 peace initiative, which called for the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to be linked to Jordan, enraged Assad and convinced him that Arafat must be reined in. The chance came in May, when Arafat promoted several controversial commanders within Al-Fatah, the guerrilla group that he founded and that still accounts for about 80% of the P.L.O.'s strength. Fanned by Syria, the rebellion in Arafat...
...reshaping the Lebanese political structure, which is now tilted in favor of the Christians. During the recess, President Amin Gemayel is sounding out the U.S. and Arab leaders on how to amend the accord and still satisfy both Israel and Syria. This week he is scheduled to meet with Assad in Damascus. Jerusalem insists it will not pull out its soldiers unless the accord is observed, while Damascus has said that its 62,000 troops will stay until the pact is scrapped...
Syria was the undisputed winner of the latest round of Middle East maneuvering. By strangling Arafat, Assad hopes to become the chief spokesman for the Palestinian cause. That, coupled with his objective of gaining de facto control over Lebanese affairs, would fulfill Assad's dream: to become the predominant leader in the Arab world...