Word: damascus
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...needed a doctor for his sick daughter. To have told the bakery patrons the truth, he feared, would have frightened them and perhaps even led to his recapture. But a passing motorist quickly gave him a lift to the Summerland, two miles away. The Syrians then took him to Damascus, and a day later he was home in London with his wife and five children...
...simply ordered its allies, the Lebanese Shi'ite terrorists, to allow Glass to escape, but in such a way that they would not appear to have caved in to Syrian pressure. Certainly, this was the version of events promoted by Syria, which is annoyed with Iran for challenging Damascus' prerogatives in Lebanon and which has been trying hard to repair its tattered relations with the U.S. and other Western powers...
...applaud Syria's efforts to free Glass, Washington announced last week that U.S. Ambassador William Eagleton would soon be returning to his post in Damascus for the first time in nine months. The U.S. had been particularly pleased that Syria had decided in June to shut down the Damascus office of Palestinian Terrorist Leader Abu Nidal. Given the degree of pressure that Syria was obviously exerting on his behalf, Glass speculated in an interview on ABC's Nightline that his release might have already been in the works and that "my escape may simply have jumped...
...Iranian Shi'ite pilgrims staged a bloody riot against Saudi authority. This, in turn, caused other Arab leaders to urge Assad to stop supporting Iran in the gulf war -- a step that would cost him his right to buy Iranian oil at heavily discounted prices. According to Syrian diplomats, Damascus has warned Iran against widening the war to include any other Arab states...
Almost too late, Assad realized that Iran and Hizballah posed a threat to Syria's position in Lebanon. He also came to understand that an Islamic stronghold in Lebanon might eventually undermine Assad's own secular Baath ; Party government in Damascus. In 1984 Assad threw his support to Amal, the mainstream Lebanese Shi'ite organization and militia led by Nabih Berri, but Hizballah's influence continued to spread. One reason Assad sent his army into West Beirut in February was to bring the Iranians to heel...