Word: syrian
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Saturnine by disposition, Syrian President Hafez Assad is not known for saying anything nice about anyone. So it astonished all manner of Middle East pundits last week when he showered praise on the leader of his No. 1 enemy, Israel. Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak, Assad told an Arabic newspaper, is a "strong and honest man" who had a "real desire for peace." Barak blew a few kisses of his own, crediting Assad with creating a "strong, independent, self-confident" country...
When Jackson negotiated the release of Lieut. Robert O. Goodman Jr. from a Syrian prison in 1983, The New York Times attributed it to "Syria's desires to further antagonize the Reagan Administration by going over its head with a gesture to the American people...
...prompted by mounting casualties at the hands of Hezbollah, the retreat is a significant victory for the Iran-backed movement's protracted war of attrition. Israel's possible withdrawal, too, is prompted by concerns over continuing casualties, although Barak wants to negotiate security arrangements with the Lebanese and Syrian governments before a final pullout...
...mess of their own making. And any security deal would have to be approved by Syria, which holds a de facto military veto power over the decisions of the enfeebled authority in Beirut. Before covering Israel's back in southern Lebanon, Damascus wants to discuss Israeli withdrawal from the Syrian territory it has occupied since...
While no election in Israel is insignificant, this one is particularly critical. Quite simply, Israel stands at a crossroads. The peace process with the Palestinians is at a stalemate. Israel's conflict in south Lebanon with the Syrian backed, Iranian-funded Hizbullah has reached a pitched crescendo. Internally, the economy is in the midst of a slippery slide, while fault-lines between religious and secular, Ashkenazi and Sephardi (Jews of European origin vs. Jews of mid-Eastern origin), political left and political right, are tremoring towards earthquake. The new prime minister will be charged with arbitrating these complex, seemingly intractable...