Word: assad
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...soldier kidnapped by militants of the Palestinian Hamas group based in Gaza. But he said that "certain third parties" - an apparent reference to Hamas exile leader Khaled Mishal and the Syrian regime in Damascus that supports him - "aborted our efforts." He also revealed that he asked Syrian President Bashar Assad to intervene with Hizballah to win the freedom of the two Israeli soldiers the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group captured to ignite the fighting in Lebanon. But Mubarak indicated that he would not join the U.S. push for Arab pressure on Syria, a key backer of Hizballah along with Iran...
...Mubarak: A few hours after the abduction of the two Israeli soldiers by Hizballah, I dispatched Egypt's Foreign Minister [Ahmed Aboul Gheit] to Damascus. He conveyed a message to the Syrian President [Bashar Assad] cautioning against the gravity of the situation and requesting his interference with Hizballah to release the Israeli soldiers. Our efforts continue with regional and international partners to stop the current escalation. We keep our channels open with the Lebanese and the Israelis together with the Saudis, the Jordanians, the Americans, the Europeans, the Russians and the United Nations...
...Indeed, for many of them, Syria's capital is a temporary way station, a one-horse stopover on the way overseas. Others are determined to ride out the war in the relative safety offered by the Assad regime. The government, eager to bolster its image as a benevolent protector of the Lebanese people, has sponsored refugee relief centers throughout the city. There, Syria's new guests can pick up staples like bedsheets and bottled water, and sign up with the Ministry of Labor for help finding work. (Less lucky are the hundreds of thousands of Syrian migrant workers suddenly back...
...angry, fevered call-and-response drawn from party slogans or the latest news. Motorcycles and cars sport yellow-and-green Hizballah banners. Many store windows feature the most popular new poster in Damascus: a photoshopped grouping of a grinning Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a grim Syrian president Bashar Assad and an inscrutable Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah, surrounded by daffodils, roses, and red tulips (the symbol of Islamic Iran...
...Syria is in a position to put considerable pressure on Hizballah to cooperate. But unless Syria is either put under unbearable pressure, or is offered the carrot of a resumption of negotiations aimed at the return to Syria of the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, President Bashar Assad is unlikely to make a deal with Washington, especially at the expense of Hizballah and Iran...