Word: syria
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...came crashing down on March 31, 2004. Omar was shot and killed in his car on his way to work at TIME'S Baghdad bureau, a victim of a new insurgent strategy to murder Iraqi interpreters working with U.S. companies. Faeza moved to Syria and then Jordan, where she applied for refugee status with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman. It took another two years before the U.N. granted her refugee status, and her case was referred to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which handles country placement for refugees. She told IOM that...
...peace effort. For over a year, Damascus had been calling for a resumption of peace negotiations with Israel, not least at the Annapolis meeting itself. But though a brief thaw in U.S.-Syrian relations ensued, the resumption of hard-line posturing seems to suggest that Syria wanted more than the Bush Administration was willing to deliver. Syria's main beef with Israel is the occupation of the Golan Heights (captured by Israel in 1967), but the Assad regime has long been concerned that the U.S. is trying to isolate or even topple...
...Still, it's not clear that that Syria's rejection of Annapolis means it seeks confrontation with Israel. Despite the presence of Meshal and a few other leaders, a look at the graying conference attendees - mostly third-tier political cadres sporting corduroy suits, leather trench coats, and other 70s fashion statements - suggests that the best minds of the resistance are busy elsewhere...
...Syria may be betting that after President Bush's lackluster tour of the Middle East, the Annapolis process will simply die a natural death. Or perhaps Damascus believes it can cut a better deal after Bush leaves office. Already there are whispers in Washington that an incoming Democratic administration might be willing to allow Syria to return to Lebanon - which it occupied until forced out in 2005 - in return for peace with Israel...
...mean time, of course, Damascus can bask in the accolades of its more militant allies. "Syria is a partner of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, and it can get a share of the victories in Palestine in Lebanon," said Ibrahim Amin Sayeed, chairman of the political council of Hizballah, which gets its weapons from Syria and Iran. "And there are many victories ahead...