Word: assads
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...Hafez Assad is as strong, perhaps stronger, than ever...
...refusing to withdraw Syria's 60,000 troops from Lebanon, Assad scotched an Israeli-Lebanese accord in which Israel would have pulled its 36,000 soldiers out of the embattled country. As a result, the Israelis were busy last week making final preparations to move their front line in western Lebanon to a more secure location 17 miles south of Beirut. In the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, meanwhile, Syrians and Israelis remain poised within sight of each other across a tense, mile-wide line. Assad's influence has also reached right into the inner circles...
...Lebanon, Assad is fanning the flames of hatred among various factions. Pro-and anti-Syrian militias clashed in the northern port of Tripoli last week, while Druze and Christian fighters exchanged fire in the Chouf Mountains southeast of Bei rut. The Druze, who are supported by Syria, have organized a coalition with the deliberate aim of under mining the government of President Amin Gemayel, a Maronite Christian. Earlier this month, government newspapers in Syria bluntly called for Gemayel's resignation. Meanwhile, in an attempt to gain greater leverage over the Palestine Liberation Organization, Assad shored up a rebellion against...
...Assad's longevity is all the more remarkable considering that he is a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that accounts for only 11% of his nation's population, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim. In a sense, it was Assad's religion that put him on the path to power. With few career opportunities available to a non-Sunni, Assad entered the military academy at 22; by 25, he was an air force officer. Around that time, the ambitious Assad became active in the country's Baath Party, which advocates...
...Assad's top priority always has been to ensure that he remains in power. He installed Alawites in key jobs in the party and the military...