Word: hafez
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Chernenko appearances evidently designed to dispel speculation that the leader's health is failing and that his nation is suffering a leadership vacuum. A few days after signing a friendship treaty in Moscow with President Ali Abdullah Saleh of North Yemen, Chernenko last week received Syrian President Hafez Assad in the Kremlin. Hungarian Communist Leader Janos Kadar, on a visit to Paris last week, insisted that all is well in the Moscow hierarchy. Said he: "It is a stable leadership, and the continuity of its leadership is the mark of its stability...
...region and underscored Hussein's longtime desire to protect his small kingdom by building strong alliances. Yet the maneuver also deepened divisions within the Arab world. Syria and Libya violently denounced Jordan's decision, while moderate states like Saudi Arabia quietly clucked disapproval. Syrian President Hafez Assad most fears a realignment among Arab nations that would shift power away from Damascus and create a new atmosphere of tolerance in the Arab community for Egypt's separate peace with Israel. "This is a treacherous stab in the back of the Arab struggle and an open plot against...
...have been kidnaped. (Late last week, Reuters Correspondent Jonathan Wright was released unharmed by unidentified gunmen after being held for 23 days.) All these terrorist incidents, coming at a time when Syria was trying to bring some kind of order to Lebanon, have embarrassed the Damascus government of President Hafez Assad. Worse, they bring with them the possibility of U.S. retaliation. The Syrians thus have reason to be annoyed with their onetime surrogates but obviously have not managed to check the terrorist activities...
Whether Tlas is to be believed or not, Rifaat, 47, had made no secret of his ambition to succeed Hafez, 54, as President. That possibility seemed to loom larger last November, when the elder Assad suffered a serious heart attack. After Assad's recovery, Rifaat's elevation in February to the new, three-man vice presidency was seen as part of an attempt to hem in his power...
Rifaat's current status is still some thing of a mystery. Responding to Tlas' statement, one of Rifaat's aides declared that the Vice President was in Geneva for health reasons, and would return to Damascus "very soon." Despite the confusing signals, one fact seemed clear: Hafez Assad shows no signs of needing, let alone wanting, a successor...