Word: syrians
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...existence. Ever since, there has been a cone of official silence placed around what had happened, with neither Jerusalem nor Washington nor anyone else confirming the operation. Two months ago, in Seoul, I pressed a senior South Korean negotiator in the six-party talks for information about the Syrian-North Korean connection. He squirmed a little and said it was his impression that the so-called al Kibar site was just a "missile factory," not a nuclear facility. That, we learned yesterday, was false...
...collection began with a small prayer rug purchased from a souk in the old city of Damascus, to celebrate the safe completion of a stint working in Iraq. The Syrian capital has always been a particularly good place to shop for rugs, ever since Silk Road travelers from the great weaving cultures of Central Asia passed through this final arc of the fertile crescent on their way to the Holy lands. Those days are long gone, but Iranian pilgrims visiting Shi'ite Muslim shrines in Syria still sometimes bring in rugs as a way to circumvent Tehran's restrictions...
...guests possess both the awkwardness and the warmth that such a situation would invite. As a result, the middle part of the film is the most nuanced and engrossing portion. Though Zainab—a jewelry-maker from Senegal—seems initially cautious and afraid of Vale, Syrian drummer Tarek befriends him quickly and teaches him to play the djembe, an African hand drum. Tarek and his drums fill the void in Vale’s life in a way that his painful piano lessons never could. We discover later that Vale only took up the piano in hopes...
...Visitor” charts the story of Walter Vale, a professor at Connecticut College, who is dissatisfied with his work and his life. One weekend he discovers that his neglected apartment in New York City has been taken over by two illegal immigrants: Tarek, a Syrian musician, and his Senegalese wife Zainab. After an initially awkward meeting, Vale warms to the couple and tries to help Tarek when he gets into trouble with immigration officials and ends up in a detention center. “I started visiting detention centers and was much inspired by things I heard and found...
...policy on Syria for most of the Bush Administration's tenure has been one of malign neglect, although lately Washington has been imposing greater political and economic pressure in the hope of changing Syrian behavior in Lebanon, as well as its role as a transit route for Iraqi insurgents and its support for Palestinian militants. The Syrian regime appears unmoved. And that's unlikely to change for the remainder of the Bush Administration's tenure...