Word: assad
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...central figure emerging from the Interfor investigation is a 44-year-old Syrian arms and drug trafficker, Monzer al-Kassar. His brother-in-law is Syria's intelligence chief, Ali Issa Duba, and his wife Raghda is related to Syrian President Hafez Assad...
...Europe that once offered training bases and safe haven to terrorists are now cooperating with the West in tracking them down. In the Middle East, allied bombs and U.N. sanctions have left Iraq without the means or gumption to continue sponsoring terrorists. Since the gulf war, Syrian President Hafez Assad has taken care not to antagonize the U.S. He has expelled some foreign terrorists from Syrian-controlled Lebanon and has reportedly told others that they can stay in the Bekaa Valley only on condition that they do not venture forth to hit Western targets...
Washington's embarrassment served as an excuse for Syrian President Hafez Assad to lash out at U.S. Middle East policies. Damascus already has Scud missiles capable of striking Israel. The Scud-Cs believed to be part of the Ho's cargo have a greater range, at more than 300 miles, than the Scud-Bs already in Syria's arsenal, but they would not significantly alter the balance of power in the Middle East. While denying that the Ho was delivering new missiles -- a denial echoed by North Korea -- Assad attacked Washington's efforts to "strip the Arabs of their weapons...
...government has been working on other positive efforts. Last November, as a result of State Department efforts, Assad agreed to release four Jewish prisoners being held for trying to leave the country. At least in order to further his rapprochement with the West, Assad may become more receptive to overtures from U.S. officials regarding issues of human rights in his country...
Congress has also taken up the cause. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.) is circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter this week on the Hill that, among other issues, pleads the case to Assad for allowing free emigration for Syrian Jews. The House of Representatives has come forward on this matter as well, forming the Congressional Caucus on Syrian Jewry two years ago. The caucus now claims more than 65 members...