Word: damascus
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Hamas sources told TIME that the Islamists are divided over their response to Israel's offer. The split is between the exiled leadership in Damascus and the political and military wings in Gaza, which took the brunt of the Israeli offensive in the coastal strip. "Why should we give Olmert a farewell gift?" says one Hamas official close to the exiled leaders in Syria. "After all, he launched attacks on Gaza and killed many...
That's a view that infuriates activists like Yanar Mohammed, who heads the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq. "Let me take her to the nightclubs of Damascus and show her [trafficked] women by the thousands," she says. To date, the government has not prosecuted any traffickers. And for the past year it has prevented groups like Mohammed's from visiting women's prisons, where they have previously identified victims, many of whom are jailed for acts committed as a result of being trafficked, such as prostitution or possessing forged documents...
...Clinton also said she would send envoys to Damascus for direct talks with Syrian leaders, the first since the Bush Administration broke off ties after the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, whose killing is suspected to have been linked to the Syrian intelligence services. "We don't engage in discussions for the sake of having conversations," Clinton said. "There has to be a purpose to them. There has to be some benefit accruing to the United States and our allies." Indirect talks between Israel and Syria, brokered by the Turks, ended with Israel's Gaza offensive...
...major difficulty in thawing relations is that militant groups such as Hizballah and Hamas, backed by Syria (and Iran), have grown into significant threats to Israel. And then there's the matter of Syria's alliance with Iran, which gives Damascus strategic depth. Moreover, some Israeli and U.S. analysts say, the state of war with Israel has helped justify the repressive security state that keeps Assad in power. But the Obama people seem to believe they can bring Syria in from the cold, possibly in exchange for a full package of aid and first-class membership in the country club...
...right, choosing more hawkish leaders in the recent election. Aides to Israel's Prime Minister-designate, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, are currently floating a proposal for a partial withdraw from the Golan in exchange for peace, a proposal that is likely to be met with derision in Damascus...