Conspiracies, Regime-Change, and Jihadists

I will travel to London for a week beginning today, so I will not be able to post until I return to Damascus. Best to all, Joshua

Claude Salhani, the Washington Bureau Chief of UPI, has a new angle on the Assassinations in Lebanon. Based on the counter-terrorism expertise of Fred Burton, he points the finger at Rifaat al-Asad, Iran and possible Israel. In Damascus, such notions are popular. Here is his article:

Politics & Policies: Terror in BeirutBy Claude Salhani
UPI International Editor

Fred Burton, vice president of counter-terrorism with Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based outfit specializing in intelligence and counter-terrorism analysis, issued a report on June 22 describing the remotely detonated charge that killed George Hawi, the former Lebanese Communist Part chief, as "so sophisticated that few in the world could have done it."

The counter-terrorism expert believes that the "complex nature of the Hawi attack narrows down the list of culprits to a few." Among the countries possessing that level of expertise are the United States, Britain, France, Israel and Russia. "This type of technology is only available to government agencies," Burton told United Press International.

Burton, who spent 15 years in U.S. counter-terrorism, told UPI that the "surgical nature of the charge" and the skill set that went into these bombings are "not available for your average terrorist organization."

Burton has investigated almost every bombing against American embassies over the past two decades and is familiar with the modus operandi used by various terrorist groups.

"Even al-Qaida and Hezbollah would not have this capability. Hezbollah are good bomb makers but their expertise is in truck bombs," Burton told UPI.

Stratfor's analyst also believes the same technology was used in the killing of Lebanese journalist, Samir Kassir on June 2. Kassir, a front-page political columnist with Beirut's leading An-Nahar newspaper was known for his opposition to Syria's involvement in Lebanese politics. The Lebanese opposition blamed the bombing on Syrian agents.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Syria to "knock it off" after George Hawi was killed in an assassination that closely resembles that of journalist Samir Kassir's.

Syria, however, says Burton, "lacks the finesse" to carry out such a job. Burton said he has investigated "a number of Syrian attacks. "This is not their style."

Stratfor's analysts point out that although Washington was quick to point a very prominent finger at Damascus for the killings, it is difficult to believe that the Syrian regime actually would have ordered Hawi's death.

"Not only are we picking up indications from Syria that the military there is baffled by what has happened, but there is a great deal of irritation that the attacks have occurred at all, since the killings are creating inconveniences for Damascus," states the report.

According to the Stratfor report, "Hawi may have been best-known as a 'prominent anti-Syrian' figure in Lebanon, but sources close to the Assad regime refer to him privately as a 'well-behaved friend.'

That raises the question: What exactly would Syria gain from eliminating a couple of Lebanese opposition figures when the regime itself is in a particularly vulnerable position following the forced military withdrawal from Lebanon?

Damascus, in this In this case, stands to lose more than it would gain from ordering the assassinations, simply to show that Lebanon risks falling back into a political abyss without Syrian protection.

"Whoever did this needed to have the capability to access Hawi's schedule. This is not your run-off-the-mill terrorist." Burton explains that the perpetrators of the attacks needed to have "eyes on." This means that someone had to be within eyesight to see the 'targets' enter their vehicles before pressing the remote control button that would detonate the explosive. Or at least passing on the message to the one holding the detonator.

The explosive charge that took Hawi's life was so precise that it injured his driver who was sitting next to him, but did not kill him. Hawi, 65, was killed instantly when the bomb blew up in his car as he was getting into it.

Hawi is the third prominent anti-Syrian to be killed this year.

Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a Feb. 14 bombing. Popular outrage over his assassination led to the April 26 withdrawal of Syrian troops after 29 years of occupation.

If Burton's analysis is correct - and everything leads one to believe it is - it would indicate that some very powerful and dark forces are at work in Lebanon.

Clare Lopez, executive director of the Iran Policy Committee and a former operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency told UPI "my instincts tells me to look to Tehran. They are the terror masters.

Burton agrees that Iran has the capability, "and they could show Hezbollah how to do it. It could be a contract hit." The question remains, why? What has any group to gain in killing a former politician?

The list of suspects runs high, admits Burton, adding that those who killed Hawi clearly wanted to send a message. The trouble is the message is not all that clear. Unless....

Unless you consider a pertinent questions asked by the Stratfor analyst: Suppose that these bombings were "merely collateral?" That the true target in the plot is the Syrian regime itself? If Damascus were being framed, who then would be the likely suspect?

Israel comes to mind. In fact the Lebanese Communist Party immediately accused Israel. But that is simply illogical. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is too tied up in the planned withdrawal from the Gaza settlements to risk such a venture. And renewed mayhem in Lebanon is not necessarily good news for Israel.

But as Stratfor states, there is "another possibility. "Someone closer to Damascus with a motive, and cloaked within the Assad name."

President Bashar's uncle, Rifaat Assad, who has been exiled from Syria by his brother Hafez, the former president, has recently been trying for a comeback to Syrian politics. In so doing, he has initiated talks with Syrian opposition groups, including, strangely enough, the Muslim Brotherhood. Rifaat has called for the removal of his nephew Bashar.

Before his fallout with his brother, Rifaat, long considered the black sheep of the family, commanded an elite military brigade, which under his command helped put down a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama in 1983, in one of modern Syria's bloodiest chapters. It was not a pretty picture, with entire neighborhoods razed to the ground, compliments of Rifaat.

As the Stratfor paper points out, "The case remains open and the list of suspects is a long one. Rifaat Assad's name cannot yet be crossed off the suspect list just yet.
--
(Comments may be sent to Claude@upi.com.)

Most Lebanese and Americans are not buying this story; however, and news of a "hit list" of Lebanese opponents of Syria is the talk of the town. An-Nahar is reporting that

Jumblat has publicly ascertained that he is on Syria's 'death list,' calling on the population of the Druze Hinterland to stay "sensible and calm" if he is assassinated.

"This is my last will and testament," he said, warning the Druze community against repeating the blood bath of 1977, when some 200 Christian villagers were cut-throated in the aftermath of the assassination of Walid's father, Kamal Jumblat.

Jumblat urged to be given a public funeral similar to the million-strong procession that carried Rafik Hariri to his downtown Beirut grave.

"U.S. Wants Both Lahoud, Berri out, But Rejects a Hizbullah Speaker" writes An-Nahar.

The Bush administration was reported Saturday to be in favor of President Lahoud's departure from power and against Berri's reelection as Speaker of Lebanon's newly elected parliament, but would readily change its stance if Berri's removal could bring in a Hizbullah Speaker.

"The devil you know is better than a devil you do not know," one American administration source was quoted as saying by An Nahar's Washington correspondent Hisham Milhem. "A Hizbullah replacement is absolutely undesirable for the United States."

Lahoud's exit is desirable on the grounds that the United States and France had sponsored a U.N. Security Council resolution objecting to the extension of his term in power in September, which Syria nevertheless had strong-armed the Beirut parliament to endorse, Milhem quoted Bush administration officials as saying.

"No one supports any of those two persons," one official was quoted as saying, referring to Lahoud and Berri. "They have represented a government and security system that harmed Lebanon and the time has come to get rid of them."

The official, however, said this was an American desire "the translation of which into reality is something left to the new Lebanese parliament to do. It's not going to be an easy mission to accomplish."

Iraq style regime change not apt for Syria - Rice
6/25/2005 3:00:00 PM GMT

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iraq style regime change was not appropriate for Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hinted in remarks published Friday that an Iraq-style regime change was not appropriate for Syria, but said that Damascus must change its policies.

"What we want is to send the Syrians a clear message from everybody that their behaviour must change. This means that they should not be in a position to cause instability in Lebanon," the London-based pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted her as saying in an interview given to three Arabic-language newspapers.

When asked whether the U.S. administration would go as far as toppling President Bashar al-Assad's government, she said: "Every situation is different from the other. Syria is not Iraq and Iraq is not Syria.

"Iraq was a special case where there was a problem of weapons of mass destruction, backing "terrorism" and UN (Security Council) resolutions. We were also in a state of war with Iraq.

"The Syrian regime is capable of changing itself, its policies and its behaviour with its neighbours. This is the path we hope they will take," she said.

The Iraq border situation has become the main topic of American complaint. Syrian authorities are doing what they can to counter US accusations that they are allowing foreign fighters to stream into Iraq from Syria. Recently, the Foreign Ministry organized a trip of Damascus based Military Attaches and reporters to visit the border. Foreign Minister Sharaa has denied US claims and insists that Syria is turning a new page with Iraq and is ready to open a Syrian embassy in Baghdad. He demands proof of Syrian complicity, rather than allegations. The Big Eight governments are meeting next month and it is believed Syria will be a leading topic of their discussions. Syria must nip any talk of sanctions in the bud. The following BBC article is describes the propaganda war now being waged in anticipation of the G8 meeting.

Syria queries Iraq border claims

Mr Shara says Syria wants to check the accuracy of the claims.

Syria says it will ask Baghdad for evidence of foreign fighters crossing its borders adding that it wants to open a "new page" with Iraq.

Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara also says Damascus hoped to reopen its embassy in Baghdad "very soon".

Washington has frequently accused Syria of allowing militants to cross into Iraq to join the insurgency there.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeated the warning on Thursday, calling for less words and more action.

"This is a government that can take action on its border to prevent these cross-border activities which are really contributing dramatically to insecurity in Iraq," she said after a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in London.

"So, if they are prepared to do it, they should just do it."

Checking accuracy

Mr Shara told reporters Syria wanted evidence of Washington's claims of cross-border activity.

"We will be contacting officials in Baghdad very soon to know the source and truth of these allegations," he said, adding that they would ask for documents and evidence.

He said Syria was "ready to co-operate and open a new page with Iraq".

"But we are not ready to hear every now and then accusations that may not have a basis of truth," he added.

"We want to confirm by words and deeds how accurate these accusations are and what solutions could be found."

He told reporters Syria hoped to send a delegation soon to Baghdad soon to discuss re-opening its embassy there.

US and Iraqi forces carried out a major offensive against militants in western Iraq's restive Anbar province, on the border with Syria, last week.

The US military said it had killed 50 rebels and arrested 100 others during Operation Spear.

The Sunday times has a long article giving details of how Jihadists travel through Syria.
June 25, 2005

Following the trail of death: how foreigners flock to join holy war
By Richard Beeston and James Hider

How long can the Syrian border remain porous?

IN A garden café on the airport road into Damascus clusters of young men gather to drink coffee, smoke shisha and hear some awe-inspiring accounts of death and glory that will lead many on a journey to certain death in the battle raging across the border in Iraq.

The owner, a former Mujahidin fighter, openly boasts of his exploits and those of his comrades still fighting the war against US forces. Like many veterans he is eager to recount his adventures in the hope of persuading others to join the cause.

A Syrian mother said that her son, a taxi driver, had succumbed to the call to arms last month and set off with a friend on the trail to Iraq, never to be heard of again.

Like thousands of other young men, drawn from across the Arab world and from Muslim communities as far away as Spain, France and even Sheffield, his final point of departure was Syria.

“It’s an individual decision. Once you’ve decided, you go to a mosque to make the initial contact. Then you are sent to a private home and from there for a week’s intensive training inside Syria,” she said. According to former fighters who spoke to The Times in Damascus, volunteers are given a crash course in using Kalashnikov rifles, firing rocket-propelled grenades and the use of remote detonators. The training takes place at secret camps in the Syrian desert, near the Iraqi border. Some attacks are even planned in advance in Damascus and Aleppo. Once the team is ready, a guide leads them across the rugged border into Iraq where they are taken to a safe house.

Most are filtered down the Euphrates river valley to join the insurgency’s combat cells, others crossing in the north head for the town of Tal Afar and the northern capital, Mosul.

Once dismissed as a small and insignificant part of the insurgency in Iraq, the US military now concedes that the threat posed by foreign fighters is one of the most dangerous they face.

If the might of the US military was humbled in South East Asia thanks in large part to the Ho Chi Min Trail, the jungle supply route that fed insurgents in South Vietnam, then American forces in Iraq today face no less a challenge from the fanatics who cross into Iraq from Syria.

Over the past few weeks US Marines have carried out a series of offensives in the western Iraqi province of Anbar to try to smash the Euphrates supply line, yet most of the towns along the river valley remain in rebel hands. The main border town of al-Qaim is even nicknamed the “jihad superbowl” by US forces.

“The way ahead is not going to be easy,” President Bush conceded yesterday, after meeting Ibrahim al- Jaafari, the visiting Iraqi Prime Minister, at the White House. “The enemy’s goal is to drive us out of Iraq before the Iraqis have established a secure, democratic government. They will not succeed.” General John Abizaid, the commander of the US Central Command, which is responsible for Iraq, told Congress on Thursday that he believed that more foreign fighters were entering the country now than six months ago.

Exact figures are hard to come by, but it is believed that several thousand fighters are in the country. Some are remnants of the thousands who poured in during the US-led invasion of Iraq. According to Lieutenant-General JohnVines, the commander of coalition forces in Iraq, 150 foreign volunteers now cross into the country from Syria every month.

This week US forces raiding a hideout near the Syrian border found passports from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia. There was even a return airline ticket from Tripoli to Damascus.

They represent only a fraction of the estimated 20,000-strong insurgent force and it is the most potent weapon in the rebel arsenal. Led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian fugitive who heads al-Qaeda in Iraq, most of the foreigners are used as volunteers for suicide car bomb attacks. Since the handover of sovereignty in Iraq a year ago, there have been 479 car bombers killing 2,174 people and wounding 5,520. In the latest incident, 6 US soldiers were killed and 13 Marines were wounded yesterday in a suicide attack in Fallujah, a town that was supposed to be under complete US military control.

Instead of confronting the foreign fighters inside Iraq, the Bush Administration is now turning up the pressure on Syria to stop the Mujahidin trail passing through its country.

“It is a fact that terrorists come across the Syrian border. It is also a fact that Syria is a dictatorship with a very large intelligence community. And one has to assume they know it is going on in their country,” Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, said. (continue article click above.)

Writing in al-Hayat, Randa Takieddine discusses the "French-American Détente over Syria" - 25/06/05

Lebanon and Syria were the “guests”, at the first meeting between Philippe Douste-Blazy, the new French Foreign Minister and his American counterpart Condoleeza Rice. The new French minister is an outspoken politician who speaks directly in sensitive issues.

Rice strived at comforting her European colleagues that the U.S. Administration has no intention to change the regime in Syria. The matter comforts France, the country that does not seek to take any risks in changing the regime of any country, regardless of its behavior. The French Minister stressed the need to toughen the international firm stand against Syria. Moreover, France underlined sharing with the U.S. administration the necessity to see that Syria does not undermine the stability of its neighbors, specifically Lebanon and Iraq. Primarily, France is highly concerned for Lebanon’s stability and attempt to recover, while the U.S. Administration is contemplating further strict measures against Syria. Both countries are very serious about reprimanding Syria, should the International community find that the Lebanese-Syrian security apparatus is involved in the previous and current assassinations in Lebanon. The investigations are ongoing, although away from the media hype. The U.S. Secretary of State has confirmed to her European colleagues that any new assassination in Lebanon will have some very serious consequences on Syria, since the latter is responsible for implementing UN resolution 1559 provisions. Furthermore, Rice informed several European Ministers that the Syrian regime still has not fully grasped all the messages and signs “repeatedly addressed by the United States”.

The French experience with the Syrian “respond” regarding the European messages has so far been similar to the American one. The Syrian negativity became a reconciliation point between Paris and Washington. At the beginning of French President Jacques Chirac’s presidential term and following the French attempts to set a dialogue approach with both Syrian presidents, Hafez Assad and his heir Bashar Assad; France reached a conclusion that the Syrian regime is at an ailing condition and incapable of listening any message or advice, let alone figure them out.

Several demands to resume the dialogue between Syria and France have emerged from the UN Secretary General Representative, Terje Roed-Larsen, and earlier from Iranian President Muhammad Khatami, who had advised during his meeting with Chirac, to resume the dialogue with Damascus. However, France has lost trust, since it exerted great efforts during the past four years, to open up to Syria and its President. However, Damascus’s persistence to extend Lebanese President Emile Lahoud’s term in office, as the breach of all Syrian promises and commitments highly disappointed France.

Torture and other Hypocrisies

There are times when I must go off topic. Torture is one of them. Anthony Lewis, who has long been a voice of conscience in America, is correct when he writes:

Over many years the United States has worked to persuade and compel governments around the world to abide by the rules. By spurning our own rules, we put that effort at risk. What Justice Louis Brandeis said about law at home applies internationally as well: "If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law."

Guantánamo's Long Shadow

By ANTHONY LEWIS Published: June 21, 2005

Boston WHEN Vice President Dick Cheney said last week that detainees at the American prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, were treated better than they would be "by virtually any other government on the face of the earth," he was carrying on what has become a campaign to whitewash the record of abuses at Guantánamo. Right-wing commentators have been sounding the theme. Columnist Charles Krauthammer said the treatment of the Guantánamo prisoners had been "remarkably humane and tolerant." Yes, and there is no elephant in the room.

Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation observed what went on in Guantánamo. One reported on July 29, 2004: "On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves and had been left there for 18, 24 hours or more." Time magazine published an extended article last week on an official log of interrogations of one Guantánamo detainee over 50 days from November 2002 to January 2003. The detainee was Mohamed al-Kahtani, a Saudi who is suspected of being the planned 20th hijacker on Sept. 11, 2001, but who was unable to enter the United States. Mr. Kahtani was interrogated for as long as 20 hours at a stretch, according to the detailed log. At one point he was put on an intravenous drip and given 3½ bags of fluid. When he asked to urinate, guards told him that he must first answer questions. He answered them. The interrogator, not satisfied with the answers, told him to urinate in his pants, which he did. Thirty minutes later, the log noted, Mr. Kahtani was "beginning to understand the futility of his situation."

F.B.I. agents, reporting earlier on the treatment of Mr. Kahtani, said a dog was used "in an aggressive manner to intimidate" him. At one point, according to the log, Mr. Kahtani's interrogator told him that he needed to learn, like a dog, to show respect: "Began teaching detainee lessons such as stay, come and bark to elevate his social status to that of a dog. Detainee became very agitated." At a minimum, the treatment of Mr. Kahtani was an exercise in degradation and humiliation.

Such treatment is forbidden by three sources of law that the United States respected for decades - until the administration of George W. Bush. The Geneva Conventions, which protect people captured in conflict, prohibit "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment." The scope of that clause's legal obligation has been debated, but previous American governments abided by it.

President Bush decided that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban members who are detained at Guantánamo. The United Nations Convention Against Torture, also ratified by the United States, requires signatories to "prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction ... cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." The Bush administration declared that this provision did not apply to the treatment of non-Americans held outside the United States. Finally, there is the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It makes cruelty, oppression or "maltreatment" of prisoners a crime.

Armed services lawyers worried that some methods of interrogation might violate the Uniform Code and federal criminal statutes, exposing interrogators to prosecution. A Pentagon memorandum obtained by ABC News said a meeting of top military lawyers on March 8, 2003, concluded that "we need a presidential letter" approving controversial methods, to give interrogators immunity.

The idea that a president can legalize the unlawful evidently came from a series of memorandums written by Justice Department officials. They argued, among other things, that President Bush's authority as commander in chief to set interrogation methods could trump treaties and federal law. Although President Bush decided to deny detainees at Guantánamo the protection of the Geneva Conventions, he did order that they must be treated "humanely."

The Pentagon, responding to the Time magazine article on the treatment of Mr. Kahtani, said, "The Department of Defense remains committed to the unequivocal standard of humane treatment for all detainees, and Kahtani's interrogation plan was guided by that strict standard." In the view of the administration, then, it is "humane" to give a detainee 3½ bags of I.V. fluid and then make him urinate on himself, force him to bark like a dog, or chain him to the floor for 18 hours.

No one can seriously doubt now that cruelties and indignities have been inflicted on prisoners at Guantánamo. Nor is there any doubt that worse has happened elsewhere - prisoners beaten to death by American soldiers, untold others held in secret locations by the Central Intelligence Agency, others rendered to be tortured by governments such as Uzbekistan's.

Since the widespread outrage over the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Americans have seemingly ceased to care. It was reported yesterday that Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the former American commander in Iraq during the Abu Ghraib scandal, is being considered for promotion. Many people would say the mistreatment of Mohamed al-Kahtani, or of suspects who might well be innocent, is justified in a war with terrorists. Morality is outweighed by necessity.

The moral cost is not so easily put aside. We Americans have a sense of ourselves as a moral people. We have led the way in the fight for human rights in the world. Mistreating prisoners makes the world see our moral claims as hypocrisy. Beyond morality, there is the essential role of law in a democracy, especially in American democracy.

This country has no ancient mythology to hold it together, no kings or queens. We have had the law to revere. No government, we tell ourselves, is above the law. Over many years the United States has worked to persuade and compel governments around the world to abide by the rules. By spurning our own rules, we put that effort at risk. What Justice Louis Brandeis said about law at home applies internationally as well: "If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law."

Anthony Lewis is a former Times columnist.

Here are two other article recently published on the subject. (I thank Paul at War in Context for them.)

Interrogators cite doctors' aid at Guantanamo

By Neil A. Lewis, New York Times, June 24, 2005

Military doctors at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have aided interrogators in conducting and refining coercive interrogations of detainees, including providing advice on how to increase stress levels and exploit fears, according to new, detailed accounts given by former interrogators.

The accounts, in interviews with The New York Times, come as mental health professionals are debating whether psychiatrists and psychologists at the prison camp have violated professional ethics codes. The Pentagon and mental health professionals have been examining the ethical issues involved.

The former interrogators said the military doctors' role was to advise them and their fellow interrogators on ways of increasing psychological duress on detainees, sometimes by exploiting their fears, in the hopes of making them more cooperative and willing to provide information. In one example, interrogators were told that a detainee's medical files showed he had a severe phobia of the dark and suggested ways in which that could be manipulated to induce him to cooperate.

In addition, the authors of an article published by The New England Journal of Medicine this week said their interviews with doctors who helped devise and supervise the interrogation regimen at Guantanamo showed that the program was explicitly designed to increase fear and distress among detainees as a means to obtaining intelligence. [complete article]

U.N. cites reliable accounts of U.S. torture

AP (via MSNBC), June 23, 2005

U.N. human rights experts said Thursday they have reliable accounts of detainees being tortured at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The experts also said Washington had not responded to their latest request to check on the conditions of terror suspects at the facility in eastern Cuba. That request was made in April.U.S. officials so far have allowed only the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Guantanamo detainees. The U.N. human rights investigators have been trying to visit since 2002. [complete article]

while I am no longer talking about Syrian, but US hypocracy, let me add this article by Avi Shlaim of Oxford. He points out how Israel's plan to destroy the 8,000 settler homes in Gaza before handing the region over to the Palestinians is a symbol for what is wrong with the US and Israel policies toward Arabs.

Withdrawal is a prelude to annexation

US hypocrisy is not new but Condi Rice has taken it beyond chutzpah

Avi Shlaim
Wednesday June 22, 2005
Guardian

Condoleezza Rice hailed the understanding between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the need to destroy the homes of the 8,000 Jewish settlers in Gaza as a historic step on the road to peace. This is a fatuous statement by one of the most vacuous US secretaries of state of the postwar era.

American foreign policy has habitually displayed double standards towards the Middle East: one standard towards Israel and one towards the Arabs. To give just one example, the US effected regime change in Baghdad in three weeks but has failed to dismantle a single Jewish settlement in the occupied territories in 38 years.

The two main items on America's current agenda for the region are democracy for the Arabs and a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. America, however, insists on democracy only for its Arab opponents, not for its friends. As for the peace process, it is essentially a mechanism by which Israel and America try to impose a solution on the Palestinians. American hypocrisy is nothing new. But with Dr Rice it has gone beyond chutzpah.

With Ariel Sharon, by contrast, what you see is what you get. He has always been in the destruction business, not the construction business. As minister of defence in 1982, Sharon preferred to destroy the settlement town of Yamit in Sinai rather than hand it to Egypt as a reward for signing a peace treaty with Israel. George Bush once described his friend Sharon as "a man of peace". In truth, Sharon is a brutal thug and land-grabber.

Sharon is also the unilateralist par excellence. The road map issued by the quartet (US, UN, EU and Russia) in the aftermath of the Iraq war envisaged three stages leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel by the end of 2005. Sharon wrecked the road map, notably by continuing to expand Jewish settlements on the West Bank and building an illegal wall that cuts deep into Palestinian territory.

He presented his plan for disengagement from Gaza as a contribution to the road map; in fact it is almost the exact opposite. The road map calls for negotiations between the two sides, leading to a two-state solution. Sharon refuses to negotiate and acts to redraw unilaterally the borders of Greater Israel. As he told rightwing supporters: "My plan is difficult for the Palestinians, a fatal blow. There's no Palestinian state in a unilateral move." The real purpose of the move is to derail the road map and kill the comatose peace process. For Sharon, withdrawal from Gaza is the prelude not to a permanent settlement but to the annexation of substantial sections of the West Bank.

Sharon decided to cut his losses in Gaza when he realised that the cost of occupation is not sustainable. Gaza is home to 8,000 Israeli settlers and 1.3 million Palestinians. The settlers control 25% of the territory, 40% of the arable land and most of the water. This is a hopeless colonial enterprise, accompanied by one of the most prolonged and brutal military occupations of modern times. Bush publicly endorsed Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza and retain the four main settlement blocks on the West Bank without consulting the quartet - a reversal of the US position since 1967 that viewed the settlements as an obstacle to peace. Last year Sharon proposed handing the remaining Israeli assets in Gaza to an international body. Now he proposes to destroy the homes and farms.

The change of plan is prompted by Israeli fear that Hamas will claim credit for the withdrawal and raise its flag over the buildings vacated by the settlers. This is inevitable both because Hamas, not the PA, is the liberator of Gaza and because Israel is refusing to coordinate its moves with the PA. Another fear is that Hamas, supported by 35-40% of the Palestinian population, will emerge as a serious electoral challenger to Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.

This is Condi's conundrum. If she is serious about spreading democracy in the Arab world she must accept the outcome of free elections; in most of the Arab world they would produce Islamist, anti-US governments. Israel has contributed more than any other country to this sorry state of affairs. Condi and the American right regard Israel as a strategic asset in the war on terror. In fact Israel is America's biggest liability. For most Arabs and Muslims the real issue in the Middle East is not Iraq, Iran or democracy but Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people and America's blind support for Israel.

America's policy towards the Middle East is myopic, muddled and mistaken. Only a negotiated settlement can bring lasting peace and stability to the area. And only America has the power to push Israel into such a settlement. It is high time the US got tough with Israel, the intransigent party and main obstacle to peace. Colluding in Sharon's selfish, uncivilised plan to destroy the Jewish homes in Gaza is not a historic step on the road to peace.

· Avi Shlaim is a British Academy research professor at St Antony's College, Oxford, and author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World.

Democracy's advance in Egypt brings dilemma for U.S.
By Simon Tisdall, The Guardian, June 21, 2005 (Thanks to Paul at War in Context)

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, called yesterday for a more inclusive, democratic process in Egypt, but sidestepped the continuing ban on the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's biggest Islamic opposition group.

Speaking in Cairo, Ms Rice said President Hosni Mubarak's decision to allow an unprecedented, multi-party presidential election in September was an "important first step", but stressed the need for a more open, competitive contest."

President Mubarak has unlocked the door for change. Now, the Egyptian government must put its faith in its own people," she said. "It must fulfil the promise it has made to its people, and to the entire world, by giving its citizens the freedom to choose."

Her silence on the Muslim Brotherhood's lack of free choices reflected the strong official Egyptian resistance to legalising the organisation. But it also illustrated Washington's larger dilemma in calling for greater Arab democracy while opposing Islamic groups such as Hamas in Palestine and Hizbullah in Lebanon with proven electoral appeal. [complete article]

"Unveiling Iraq's Teenage Prostitutes in Syria," by Phillips

Unveiling Iraq's teenage prostitutes
Fleeing their war-torn homes, Iraqi girls are selling their bodies in Syria to support their families.

Joshua E. S. Phillips
June 24, 2005
Salon.com (Thanks to Jefferson Gray for sending me this copy)

DAMASCUS, Syria -- You might not even notice the Manara nightclub if it weren't for the gradual flow of cars leading right to it. Just behind the Mosque of President Hafez Assad, the club's parking lot is crammed with cars, many bearing plates from neighboring gulf states. Inside, disco lights pierce the smoky air.

Patrons pack the seats as they sip beer and lazily gaze at the dance floor. They watch teenage girls dressed in snug, revealing clothes awkwardly shuffling to thumping Arabic music. Many girls wear stilettos so steep they can barely walk. Some dance in pairs, often tightly pressed together, fingers entwined. Most seem bored and some, noticeably, are uneasy.

Male customers summon waitstaff to inquire about the availability and age of select girls. A Syrian journalist and I, posing as patrons, consult the staff ourselves. Farah, a 15-year-old, is brought to our table, dressed in camouflage pants and heavy makeup.

Farah sits, swings her long dark hair, shakes hands all around, then pointedly asks, "Who am I speaking to?" I'm taken aback by her businesslike tone and point to the Syrian reporter. Farah pleasantly chats with him, negotiating how much time she'll share, and if a "next step" will be taken. Farah locks eyes with the waiter, nods, and a bottle of champagne is brought to our table. "That'll be 7,000 Syrian pounds," says the waiter. That's $140. The champagne signals the beginning of the process. Conversation is next, and "anything else" will cost more.

As we empty our bottle of champagne, Farah tells us her story.
Like most of the girls at the Manara disco, she is an Iraqi, a Sunni from Fallujah, one of Iraq's most war-torn areas. She got married in the United Arab Emirates, divorced four months afterward, and found work at the disco through a cousin. She says she's working "just to make some money for my family," who also now live in Syria. Farah says she's the family's breadwinner.

The story of a Sunni girl from Fallujah selling herself in a Damascus nightclub represents startling new fallout from the Iraq war, one human rights organizations and experts are only beginning to address. An increasing number of young Iraqi women and girls who fled Iraq during the turmoil are turning to prostitution in Syria, although there are no reliable statistics on how many girls are involved.

That might partly explain why so little reporting has been done on the topic. For journalists and human rights workers, securing contact with Iraqi sex workers in Syria is difficult and dangerous because the topic is taboo.

"It's a serious problem because there are young girls doing this -- 11, 12, 13 years old," says Abdelhamid El Ouali, the representative for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees who's based in Damascus. "It's amazing at first. But when you fight for your life, what are you going to do?"

The Syrian government and UNHCR put the number of Iraqi refugees in Syria at roughly 700,000. Syrian police either lack data or won't release any figures on prostitution, which isn't surprising considering the closed government. The U.S. State Department's 2005 "Trafficking in Persons Report" acknowledges the problem, but officials have no clear sense of its magnitude. According to the report, "There have been some reports that indicate Iraqi women may be subjected to sexual exploitation in prostitution in Syria at the hands of Iraqi criminal networks, but those reports have not been confirmed."

Of course, nearly every conflict breeds prostitution. Despair leads to desperation, which can often lead to sex work. Whether Iraqi girls have actually been "trafficked" is hard to determine for myriad reasons, not the least of which is that coercion is difficult to gauge. "You could say this situation isn't triggered by trafficking -- trafficking just takes advantage of the situation," El Ouali says.

That Iraqi girls and women are selling sex may not seem shocking, but prostitution is especially taboo for Arab women.

"In this culture, to allow your daughter to become a prostitute means you've hit dirt bottom," says Joshua Landis, an American professor from the University of Oklahoma, presently living in Syria. "None of your sisters can get married if it's known that one of them is a prostitute. If there's any public knowledge of this, it's a shame on the whole family." The shame can even lead to "honor killings," in which women are slain by their husbands or relatives for tainting the family name.

Hustling has a particularly violent legacy in Iraq. In 2000, Saddam Hussein publicly executed 200 women convicted of prostitution. Prostitution would be especially shameful in Farah's hometown, as Fallujah is considered one of Iraq's more tribal, religiously conservative cities. "Yes, even Sunnis from Fallujah are doing this kind of work, and it reflects the drama of the situation," El Ouali says. "It's provoked by misery and precariousness."

Syria has traditionally allowed relaxed entry to its Arab neighbors. Many arrived because of rampant, indiscriminate violence back home, while others, like thousands of Iraqi Christians, had been targeted by opposing ethnic or religious sects. Some feared they were "marked" for working with foreigners, mainly Americans, either in the Coalition Provisional Authority or the military, as translators or interrogators.

But with the exception of Palestinians, refugees are not officially allowed to hold jobs in Syria. For the most part, Iraqi refugees are living off their savings, which are drained by daily expenses. Many are stuck in Syria, as few Western embassies are now granting visas, claiming that Iraq has become a liberated country following the fall of Saddam. With economic conditions worsening all the time for refugees, officials say, it's no surprise that Syria is seeing a rise in child exploitation and prostitution.

Koumay Mulhem, a young Syrian journalist, has been researching Iraqi prostitution in Syria for a year as a reporter for an online women's magazine, and is preparing to make a documentary about it. Mulhem serves as my tour guide of sorts one recent Friday night as I try to get a sense of how widespread Iraqi prostitution is here.

Our first stop is Martyrs' Square, the center of Damascus. With theDamascene charm of Middle Eastern nut and juice shops, Al-Merjeh, asit is locally known, is somewhat reminiscent of New York's Times Square of the 1980s: seedy side streets, a plethora of one-star hotels, and pimps. Within minutes, Mulhem locates a pimp, a shoeshine boy, and quickly begins bartering with him.

"I have farfourd," says the pimp, using the slang for very young girls. "Fifteen years old."

"I need younger," Mulhem says.

"Yes, we can find them. Iraqi girls. The cleanest you can find. You'll never see anything like these girls. They'll make you very happy."

"How much?"

"Since you're more than one -- 1,500 Syrian pounds [$30]."

Mulhem balks. The demonstration is over, and so he breaks the deal and walks away. "Two minutes," he says, a terse commentary on how easy it was to transact a deal.

Mulhem says that Al-Merjeh has long been a place to find pimps, even before the influx of Iraqis. It's a transit point for taxi drivers, who transport men to prostitutes in suburban apartments in Jeramana, Berze and Sayeda Zainab (these districts house many Iraqi Christians, Kurds and Shiites, respectively). "Prostitution is flourishing in these areas," Mulhem says. "I'm a resident of Jeramana and there's a new place for prostitution within my own building."

He notes that Russian and Moroccan sex workers operated in Syria during the mid-1990s. A comparatively smaller influx of Iraqi prostitution came after Operation Desert Storm, but "since the last Gulf War, there has been a flood that everybody has felt."

At the square we hop into a taxi. Just after we state our destination, the cab driver begins soliciting us. He tells us about girls in "furnished apartments" in the suburbs and offers us a room "with a 16 year-old maid. You will see something you'll never believe," he says.

We decline and head to Rabwah, a neighborhood with about 20 clubs -- mostly with Syrian and Moroccan sex workers, but now with more Iraqis, Mulhem says. Before entering one, Mulhem pulls me aside. "These places are dangerous," he says. "Don't speak English. You're Turkish now, OK?" An American presence would arouse too much suspicion, he says, as locals are the expected patrons.

In one club, girls in low-cut halter tops walk hand in hand along a fashion runway-like platform. Blaring music makes conversation impossible and so we decide to leave. As we do, a man joins us to help us find "the right club." We hail a cab and head to the upscale neighborhood Mezza. We end up at the Manara nightclub, where I met Farah weeks ago. This is the place, our companion says, where the best Iraqi girls are found, and their youth is a premium.

This time the girls are more aggressive. As soon as we sit down, four instantly arrive at our table, squeezing in tightly, knitting their hands into ours. Alia and Noura sit beside our Syrian photographer, who turns to them and asks why two are presenting themselves to him.

"She's my sister," says Alia, who says she's 18 but looks much more like 14. "We always go together."

"Where are you from?"

"Baghdad."

"Did you bring your sister here?"

"No, my mother brought us," says Alia, suddenly looking a bit sullen.

"Do you like your mother?" our photographer asks.

"Of course," she answers, slightly defensive. "Now you have to choose between me and my sister."

Sitting beside Mulhem is Dana, who says she's from the "jihad neighborhood of Baghdad," but doesn't name the district. He's trying to negotiate a way to spend time with her to talk about her experience and how she landed the work.

"How much time would you spend with me? What are you going to do?" he asks.

"I'll make you happy in any way you want," Dana says. But first she has to check with her brother, seated just behind Mulhem, about prices and availability. They agree on $100 and a rendezvous tomorrow afternoon (Mulhem doesn't show up). The deal is closed and our evening winds down -- unless we decide to do more business. We decline. The girls are disappointed and we head out in the night.

As we stroll alongside the Mosque of President Hafez Assad, Mulhem tries to calculate the number of prostitutes in Damascus. There were about 40 girls in the Manara nightclub, he says. Now multiple that number by approximately 120 clubs and you have a pretty good estimate. Streetwalkers constitute a smaller number, and who knows how many prostitutes operate in "furnished apartments." As we continue walking down the windy street, Mulhem grows reflective. Referring to Dana, he says, "She's just a child. They're all just children."

One outreach organization for refugee children is the Good Shepherd Nunnery in Damascus' crumbling Old City. The nuns' observations of Syrian prostitution mirror Mulhem's, but they have also met a few Iraqi women in local prisons who've been sold into bondage by their husbands. Mostly, says Sister Mary Claude Naoldaf, "the girls tell me they don't like it but have to do it to support their families."

She adds that in the past year, many of the children that attended nunnery's learning center have "suddenly disappeared" -- most likely taken out of school, she believes, to earn for their families. Her colleague, Sister Therese Mosalam, explains that "to help prevent girls from turning to prostitution, the center offers them computer training courses and helps find them jobs in sewing and gold-

manufacturing factories." But pay is usually about $50 a month --$100 in the best case -- compared with the $40 to $60 sex workers can make per night. "And the job opportunities are very rare," she adds. "I had one girl who waited for three years for the factory job."

The sisters' voices drop as they quietly recall visits to refugee families' homes. Empty refrigerators are common. Some kids have yellowish skin and many look gaunt. Malnutrition, they say, is starting to take hold.

Mouna Kurdy, general manager of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, which works in affiliation with the UNHCR, acknowledges that among Iraqi refugees, "parents don't have enough to eat, so they encourage their children to take these jobs."

She grows testy at recent inquiries by the press and humanitarian groups about Iraqi prostitutes in Syria. "And now people are asking about this issue? [The international community] was preparing this war for months. Now that Saddam Hussein isn't here anymore, the problems are supposed to be finished. No. They have been here before the war, during the war, and after the war."

"Somalian and Sudanese worked as prostitutes in Syria, but nobody cared about that," says Abdul Aziz Taha, who's in change of a Red Crescent health clinic in the Damascus suburbs.

Both Taha and Kurdy says that prostitution is a comparatively small worry in light of the basic health problems that Iraqi refugees face, including hepatitis C, diabetes and serious cardiac conditions. Major medical procedures cost on average $2,000, but the Red Crescent is only given a budget of $200 per family, Kurdy says.

Still, given the growing awareness of the problems facing Iraqi refugees -- violence, restricted mobility, diminishing finances -- one wonders why child prostitution in Syria hasn't garnered more attention. The answer might depend on whom you ask. To Mulhem, it's profitable for Syria as a tourist attraction. He believes "there's active collaboration between the club owners and police who turn a blind eye for payoffs." Landis, the American professor in Syria, says that if Syria publicly acknowledged prostitution, that would "mean sanctioning its existence" and expose the country to the sort of shame that an individual family would face.

In fact, Syria newspapers typically replace the word "prostitution" with the euphemistic " act against decency." Talk of drugs, HIV and religion is actively discouraged -- some would say censored -- by the Syrian authorities. And despite numerous inquires, no Iraqi women's organization would respond to questions about this issue.

But the emergence of Iraqi prostitution in Syria, especially among young girls, reflects the dire conditions of the local Iraqi refugee community. One U.N. official, who asked to remain anonymous, admits that the "conspiracy of silence" surrounding prostitution underscores the international community's larger failure to recognize the dire conditions of Iraqi refugees and provide them with a safe haven.

"Every social convention is splitting at the seams because of the implosion of Iraqi society," Landis says. "That place has been blown apart, so all the social barriers have collapsed."
______

About the writer Joshua E. S. Phillips is a freelance journalist presently based in the Middle East.

Reform in Syria — Who wants it? By Jansen

The Jordan Times has an opinion piece by Michael Jansen, which argues the Baath Party Conference in Syria created the opening for "major economic reforms." It also argues that the United States is "stirring up trouble in Lebanon with the aim of blaming it on Syria and calling for regime change in Damascus." Thanks to "dsp," a "Syria Comment" reader, for sending it along.

Reform in Syria — who wants it?
By Michael Jansen
Jordan Times

The Syrian government is engaged in an existential struggle on two fronts. On the domestic front, it is trying to transform its command economy into a social market economy and its Baath Party-dominated political system into a pluralistic democracy where the party will remain a leading player. On the external front, the government is under serious threat from the neoconservatives in the Bush administration who want to effect regime change in Damascus. Their aim, of course, is to bring in a new government which would be prepared to deal with Israel without demanding the return of Syrian land occupied by the Jewish state in 1967.

The neocons are preparing the way for regime change in Syria in much the same way they did in Iraq. They are using the world media to demonise the Syrian Baath Party regime and are trying to embroil the UN in Syrian affairs. Ultimately, the US can be expected to create a crisis between Syria and Lebanon or between Syria and Iraq, with the aim of providing a pretext to sanction or intervene militarily in Syria.

Damascus is attempting to counter the US campaign in several ways: focusing on its own affairs rather than the Arab scene, instituting major domestic reforms, reaching out to Arab and other external investors, and playing a positive role in the region. To save itself and defend Arab nationalism, or “Arabism”, the Syrian government, the last remaining proponent of “Arabism”, must create clearly observable momentum for political and economic change within its own society. Syria is now running a race with the neocons who are determined to use the political and economic failings of the Baath to topple the regime.

Although President Bashar Assad has been gradually moving towards major economic and political changes since he assumed power in 2000, upon the death of his father, the real push for reform is just beginning. His reform agenda was endorsed during the Baath Party regional congress held from June 6 to 9. Syrians I interviewed this week during a visit to Damascus agreed that the president is seriously pursuing reform and that he has launched the process which will take place gradually, over some months and years. Analysts argue that this process is clearly observable for anyone prepared to see what is happening. The problem is that Western officials and media remain blind to change in Syria.

Dr Nabil Sukkar, an independent economic analyst, said that the president had elicited from the party congress endorsement for a social market economy and major changes in the political system. This amounts to a dramatic shift from the party's command economy ideology, Sukkar observed. The goal is a “market economy with social justice”, rather than rampant capitalism. The congress agreed to allow other parties to function and has accepted multiparty or multicandidate elections in 2007. The president has also replaced veteran party figures with younger men, close to him, and begun reform of the security services with the aim of consolidating the multiple agencies created by his father. In Sukkar's view, an important “threshold” has been crossed. “The next step is implementation.” He expects this to be done on a step-by-step basis. Sukkar, one of Syria's most consulted analysts, said: “I am optimistic.”

Dr Buthaina Shaaban, minister of expatriates, agreed. The congress produced a “major change, not merely in persons but in strategies, policies, approach, goals. There is a determination to fight corruption, put the right person in the right place, bring technical expertise to establish the rule of law, pass a new law for political parties, amend the emergency law, and provide for private media. These decisions will take a year or two to implement.... There is determination to build the country.”

Shaaban, who served as spokeswoman for the congress, revealed that “everything was discussed frankly, nothing was taboo. It was a four-day workshop. The president gave a short speech at the opening because he did not want to dictate, he wanted dialogue. The Baath Party has to gain people's confidence”, which has waned over its 35 years in power.

Other independent commentators said the president himself is taking decisions. They argued that he is strongly committed to reform. One remarked that the “exodus” of Syrian troops and intelligence operatives from Lebanon did not “tarnish” the president's image. “He is very popular. He is accessible to the people. He goes to restaurants, concerts, other functions, talks to people. He took his children to the bumper cars.... Hafez Assad wanted to be feared, Bashar wants to be loved.”

This analyst also made the point that the opposition largely consists of old men who have no constituencies — early Baathists and Nasserites. “Exiled parties do not count for much.” The commentator said the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties should be legalised because they are more of a threat if they go underground. Finally, he argued that there is no real challenge to the party because it is well entrenched and the people have no experience of any other rulers.

One sign of the dramatic change that has taken place was the appointment of Dr Abdullah Dardari, a non-party member who is a Sunni from Damascus, to the post of deputy premier for economic affairs. He is the first figure who does not belong to the party command to take up this post. Furthermore, the choice of Damascene Dardari means that the capital, which has been excluded from power for decades, is now involved in building Syria. Western-educated Dardari also heads the Planning Bureau which has been drawing up the country's economic strategy.

Dardari met this correspondent in his new office in the building housing the Council of Ministers. “The party congress was better than I expected. It took courageous decisions at a time when Syria is under strong pressure [from both domestic and external forces] to change its economic and social system and declare multiparty political elections, freedom and democracy,” he asserted.

My interview with Dardari took place shortly after he chaired for the first time a meeting of the Economic Committee. “I felt that an ideological barrier has been lifted,” he stated. The committee's job is to lay down detailed steps for economic reform till the end of the year.

He revealed that chicken-and-egg discussions over whether economic or political reform should come first are “no longer an issue. They are interrelated, walk hand-in-hand. We are going to recreate the middle class which provides the foundation for a healthy political life.

“By instituting a more participatory system [of government], we will encourage people to invest. Arab and Syrian money is already coming here. We have billions of dollars in projects. There is a boom due to high oil prices and Arabs know the risks of investing in the West.”

He made the point that the Arabs are “concerned for Syria” and know that its “stability is in their own interest... Syria is the only country which is secular enough or modern enough [to assert leadership]. If Syria is prosperous and stable, it will quell fundamentalism and extremism. If Syria is prosperous, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq will be prosperous. Syria is a trendsetter in the region. If Syria adopts reforms, others will do the same.... We want the Arabs to be nationalists, liberal, socially conscious and to respect freedom and democracy”.

Reform in Syria is precisely what the neocons and their Israeli ally do not want. Someone is stirring up trouble in Lebanon with the aim of blaming it on Syria and calling for regime change in Damascus.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

U.S. Sees Consensus That Syria Foments Strife

The New York Times is reporting US officials saying that a "consensus" is building between Europe and the US that Syria is stirring up trouble in both Lebanon and Iraq. Only one French official is quoted, and he did not suggest a consensus is building. All the same, the meeting in London of foreign ministers of the Group of 8 industrialized nations was mostly about Syria. The US is trying to build a consensus. President Bashar must do what he can to stop targeted killings of anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon.

Even if there were consensus between France and the US about Syria being the instigator of violence, this would not necessarily lead to determined anti-Syrian action.

The West has few good options to pressure Syria. Europe could place sanctions on Syria. This would impoverish the Syrian masses, as happened to the people of Iraq. If sanctions fail, and Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan trans-shipped the embargoed goods to Syria, it would just turn into another bad policy ensuring a long and fruitless battle between East and West. All the cost would be born by Europe and Syrians, not the US, which already enforces an ineffective embargo.

It won't happen. First, Europe still believes Bashar is Syria's best hope. Second, Europeans don't care whether Americans are killed in Iraq. Third, Bashar is smart enough not to place Syria in such a silly position. But everyone is counting killings. They are inexcusable, and in the world's eyes, Syria remains their most likely author.

U.S. Sees Consensus That Syria Foments Strife in Lebanon and Iraq

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Published: June 24, 2005

LONDON, June 23 - Bush administration officials asserted Thursday that an international consensus had emerged that Syria had been stoking the violence in Lebanon and Iraq and against Israelis, and they said they were now certain that Syrian agents had been operating in Lebanon.

Skip to next paragraph The comments represented an escalation of the campaign by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to isolate Syria diplomatically as the administration has faced mounting violence against its interests throughout the Middle East. Ms. Rice has not said what other forms of pressure might be applied.

A senior State Department official, briefing reporters under ground rules that he not be identified, said there was "widespread agreement" at a meeting of leading foreign ministers on Thursday in London, and among the delegates at a conference on Iraq in Brussels on Wednesday, that Syria bore major responsibility for instability in the region.

Ms. Rice, at the end of the foreign ministers' meeting, accused Syria of supporting the Iraq insurgency.

"Let's not have more words about what they are prepared to do," she said of Syrian promises to help Iraq with security on their mutual border. "Let's have action. If they're prepared to do it, they should just do it."

The foreign ministers were briefed by James D. Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank, on his three-year $3 billion proposal for the economic reconstruction of Palestinian areas, contingent on Israel's planned pullout from Gaza and the northern part of the West Bank.

The package, which would effectively double levels of outside aid for the Palestinians, is tied to a variety of projects, including building facilities to help move goods and people into and out of Palestinian areas.

The renewed pressure on Syria comes as an anti-Syrian majority in the Lebanese Parliament is set to form a government in Beirut and a series of assassinations have been carried out in Lebanon against anti-Syrian politicians and journalists.

In the past, administration officials have said that Syria had a "hit list" for assassination in Lebanon, and they have recently suggested strongly that despite the withdrawal of 14,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon, it appeared that intelligence operatives had remained behind.

A Western diplomat close to the Syrian situation, who asked not to be identified because he did not want to be seen characterizing the positions of other countries, said the consensus about Syria was propelled by European concerns about Lebanon and American concerns about Iraq.

"There's a lot of international pressure on the Syrians to cease and desist, and that's just not the United States," a senior State Department official said. The official said there was intelligence information that made clear that Syrian intelligence operatives remained in Lebanon.

That conclusion was not fully endorsed by the French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy. "The withdrawal of Syrian troops has been observed," he said, but there is concern that Syrian intelligence agents might still operate in Lebanon. The meeting in London was of foreign ministers of the Group of 8 industrialized nations, which will hold a summit meeting to be attended by President Bush in July at Gleneagles, Scotland. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain said the ministers also discussed Iran, the Balkans, the war and genocide in Sudan, efforts to resume talks with North Korea and negotiations over China.

But the focus on Syria appeared to be the most intense part of the meetings here and in Brussels, suggesting that world pressure could increase. Syria and Iran sent delegates to the Brussels conference, but Ms. Rice declined to meet with them.

Whither Syria? Glasnost? Comments and an article by Moubayed

As usual, Sami Moubayed has written one of the smartest analyses of the Baath Party Conference. It is a must read. He also answers readers’ questions about Nabil Fayyad returning to Damascus and tries to put the many changes in leadership positions in context.

Sami captures the Baath's contradictory message well. On the one hand, the Baath Conference was meant to be a show of strength and unity; on the other hand, Bashar does have a reform program that many within the Party and security forces must believe will endanger the regime's grip on power. How can he do both - reform and preserve power? Bashar's challenge was to reassure the regime faithful that he is not jeopardizing their future, while simultaneously reassuring Syrians that he will push ahead with reforms and will not be held captive by the Baath Party. The Party acts both as a shadow government in Syria and as a roadblock on the road to change. Proclaiming that Syria will not change and that it will change is not an easy message to convey. It is an even harder policy to enact.

Sami’s comparison to Glasnost in the Soviet Union is apt. Many people are wondering how the president can open up the system without destroying the foundations of the regime. It is clear that Syria is no China. Its economy cannot grow fast enough under present conditions to prolong the one party state into the distant future. Syria will not produce a miracle. The Soviet Union and Glasnost is the obvious alternative path for Syria. Bashar promises that he can find a third way to ensure stability and a freer economy - some sort of darb al-Akhdar. Most third ways in the Middle East have not been a success.

Everyone in Damascus is asking "wither Syria?" There is great insecurity about the future. A number of smart analysts, unable to see how the regime will break out of its present paralysis, are predicting total collapse in several years. This would manifest itself in the outbreak of scattered sectarian and tribal violence as economic pressure grows. They see the reassertion of sub-national loyalties and the renewed formation of politically active Islamist groups. Ammar Abdulhamid is but one of these analysts. See his recent editorial, "Flexibility allows for hope, rigidity precipitates mayhem."

The readers of "Syria Comment" have also been discussing the future of Syria in the comment section of the last 5 posts or so. It is quite clear that people are perplexed. Many are democrats, but one can also see in the insults, a high level of sectarian hatred and desire for vengeance. I don't know what other words to use.

Here is Sami's article.

A hint of glasnost for Syria
Sami Moubayed

A week after the Ba'ath Party conference in Syria, which many people believed could mark significant change in the country, it's clear that it was foolish to think the Ba'athists would willingly abandon their status in government. On the contrary, the conference came out with a very strong message to Syrians and the world: the Ba'ath is here, as it has always been since 1963, and plans to stay around for a whole lot longer.

The majority of Syrians were misinformed about what the conference would bring. Some talked about a general amnesty. Some said that law 49, which says that membership in the Muslim Brotherhood is a capital offense, punishable by death, would be abrogated. Others dreamt of a pardon for all political exiles. Many believed that article 8 of the constitution, which says that the Ba'ath Party is the leading party of state and society, would be amended.

None of the above happened, yet the conference came out with the advice to the Syrian leadership that the Ba'ath Party's role in daily decision-making had come to an end. The party will supervise, but not interfere in, the mechanisms of government. According to the London-based daily al-Hayat, the number of cabinet seats allocated to the Ba'ath will be reduced from 17 to 10.

The Ba'ath still had a lot to offer Syria, its assembled leaders said. If anything, the conference showed that President Bashar Assad is totally in control of domestic affairs, despite what many people have speculated in the Arab and Western press.

Number one on the reform list was the retirement of many members of the Ba'ath Party, some of whom had been in office since 1963. With a few exceptions, these were the same men whom the press had accused of hampering reforms since 2000, claiming that Assad had been unable to get rid of them.

Among those to lose their jobs were ex-chief of staff Ali Aslan, his deputy Abd al-Rahman Sayyad, ex-chief of Military Intelligence Hassan Khalil, ex-director of political security Adnan Bader Hasan, ex-vice presidents Abd al-Halim Khaddam and Zuhayr Masharka, ex-premier Mohammad Mustapha Miro, ex-defense minister Mustapha Tlas, ex-assistant secretary generals of the Ba'ath Abdullah al-Ahmar and Sulayman Qaddah, ex-speaker of parliament Abd al-Qadir Qaddura, and two generals, Shafiq al-Fayyad and Ibrahim al-Safi.

Many in Syria were unimpressed, claiming that retiring officials who had been in the Ba'ath for 40 years, and replacing them with those who have been around for 20 years, cannot be called real reform. On June 16, Assad launched a security shake-up to further make his point that matters were changing in the country. The president replaced Bahjat Sulayman, the strong director of internal security at General Intelligence, with Fouad Nasif, an officer from Military Intelligence.

Mohammad Sa'id Bukhaytan, an "enlightened" Ba'athist, has replaced the aged and ailing Abdullah al-Ahmar as deputy secretary general of the party, while Hisham Ikhtiyar, a retired officer from Damascus, has replaced Bukhaytan as national security adviser. Ali Maamlouk, another Damascene officer in his mid-50s, has become the new director of General Intelligence. He has promised, according to a popular online news bulletin, to minimize interaction between the intelligence offices and Syrian citizens, emphasizing that intelligence officers had a duty to monitor the security of Syria, not the affairs of its citizens.

He also said he would tolerate political dissent and not persecute citizens for views that were opposed to the Ba'ath Party. This might explain why, coinciding with his appointment, was the arrival to Syria, from the US, of US-based opposition member Nabil Fayyad, who joined the Party of Syrian Reform earlier in the year. Fayyad, a one-time ally of the Syrian regime, fled to join US-based opposition leader Farid al-Ghadry. Surprisingly, although he called for "regime change" while based in America, and promoted himself as "president of the Reform Party-Syrian branch", Fayyad has not been touched by the Syrians.

Abdullah al-Dardari, a non-Ba'athist and highly respected man in Syria who studied in Great Britain, worked at the United Nations Development Program, and had been director of the State Planning Bureau since 2003, became deputy prime minister for economic affairs. Walid al-Moualim is tipped to become minister of foreign affairs. Moualim's appointment is due to his good relations with Washington, where he served as ambassador from 1990 to 2000. He is expected to mend relations with the White House and end Syria's isolation after the Lebanon debacle, which he recently handled until Syria withdrew its troops after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in February.

This is the biggest shake-up in Ba'athist history since late president Hafez Assad came to power in November 1970. The changes put a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the Syrian president. For five years, Syrians have believed their president was a reformer, but that those around him were not. Overnight, Assad got rid of them all. True, this pleases Syrians for today, but it also leaves no excuse for delayed reforms from now on. The people also believed that Ba'athist interference in day-to-day affairs of the state was a damper on reforms, since whenever the Ba'athists wished they could arrest or fire people, or delay legislation, claiming that it "contradicted the principals of the revolution". At the conference, this revolutionary term has been dropped and the Ba'athists recommended that the party be separated from government affairs, echoing a law issued by the Ba'ath in 2003.

Another noted reform was the Ba'ath conference recommendation that Syria authorize the creation of political parties, not necessarily affiliated with the Ba'ath. Effectively, this breaks the Ba'ath Party's monopolization of power since 1963. A law is yet to be issued, yet a group of activists has already taken matters into its own hands and issued a declaration to create the Movement of Free Patriots, in Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city.

Its main founder and spokesman is Samir Nashar, a 60-year-old businessman and political activist who belongs to the mercantile class of Aleppo and who has been active in civil society movements since 2000, being a co-founder of the Abd al-Rahman Kawakbi Salon for Political Debate in Aleppo. Two of the founders, Dr Talal Kayyali and Mustapha al-Jabiri, are part of the political establishment that ruled Syria, academically known as the "urban notables", before the Ba'ath Party came to power in 1963.

The Soviet model
With all these events taking place in Syria, many are starting to draw a parallel between the Ba'ath Party conference of 2005 and the Communist Party conference in the USSR in 1986. Syria must read the details of Mikhail Gorbachev's 1986 conference because they were the cornerstone that created the new Russia that exists today.

Gorbachev attacked the recent past, pointing out that mistakes had been made, but individuals were responsible for them, and not the Communist Party. The Soviet conference called for a more flexible system of economic management, the loosening of outdated bureaucratic laws, encouraging greater openness, less interaction between Soviet citizens and the secret police, and more publicity about the shortcomings of the regime. This was called glasnost. It unwillingly exposed the weakness of the Soviet system and the much-needed reforms in all sectors of life. Censorship eroded, taboos were lifted, banned works were published, and writers were permitted to explore forbidden themes. Through glasnost, Gorbachev attempted to mobilize the intelligentsia to his side, in addition to the Soviet youth, something that Assad has been trying to do since 2000.

The Soviet press became more transparent, and people were allowed to learn of the mistakes of the past. When the reality of failure became so clear to everyone, Gorbachev abolished high school exams in 1988. History books in the USSR had been used to glorify the Communist Party and its role in Russian history. It was pointless to maintain these exams in 1988, since so many of these myths had been challenged or destroyed completely by the openness and transparency of glasnost. Will this take place in Syria? Syria's curriculum, after all, has concentrated on glorifying the post-1963 era and describing everything that preceded it as "regressive" and "wrong".

As the world watched in admiration, Gorbachev withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan, just like Assad has withdrawn his troops from Lebanon. Assad does not want to dismantle the regime of the Ba'ath Party. He wants to reform Syria from within, yet maintain the status quo. There is a general consensus in Syria of him being a true president if he succeeds in implementing glasnost.

Assad wants to restore the confidence of the Syrian people in Syria. In June 1988, at the Communist Party's 19th conference, Gorbachev dictated that party committees could no longer issue instructions to the state, or enforce (and hamper) economic legislation. The Communist Party was not above the law, he added, and should cease its role as administrator of the whole country. The USSR should democratize, he added, on the basis of multiple candidates, and this was echoed by Assad in an interview with Spanish journalists in March when he said that "the future will be for political parties in Syria".

Thousands of prisoners were released by Gorbachev, again, as Assad is doing in Syria. In March alone, Assad released 312 Kurdish dissidents arrested for creating disturbances in 2004, and since coming to power in 2000, has released over 1,000 political prisoners. Still, many remain behind bars, including parliamentarians Riyad Sayf and Maamoun al-Homsi, economist Arif Dalilah, and Ali al-Abdullah, an activist arrested last month for reading a declaration on the behalf of the banned Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.

Yet this past week, a European Union parliamentary delegation visiting Syria received assurances from the authorities that all political dissidents, including Sayf and Homsi, would be released within a week. With regard to the Kurds, Assad has also promised to grant 225,000 of them Syrian citizenship, which they were deprived in 1962, before the Ba'athist regime came to power.

As the press became more open in the USSR, the Soviets, just like the Syrians today, began to understand why the truth had been kept away from them for so long. The truth is that the USSR was in a mess, and for the first time since 1917, the people were demanding answers to the question: what went wrong, and why? The same mood prevails in Damascus today: Syria is in a mess, and the people want answers.

Sami Moubayed is a Syrian political analyst.
Asia Times (July 21, 2005).

George Hawi Killed -- Border Troubles

Bomb kills anti-Syria politician: Hawi, a Christian, frequently spoke out against Syrian intelligence and interference in Lebanese affairs.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) --
Tuesday, June 21, 2005;

George Hawi, a former Communist Party chief who was a harsh critic of Syrian meddling in Lebanese affairs, was killed in a bomb as he rode in his car Tuesday, police said, the second slaying of an anti-Syrian figure this month.

The explosion -- which police said went off in the car as it was moving -- came a day after Lebanon concluded parliamentary elections, in which the anti-Syrian opposition won a majority in parliament.

Hawi's Mercedes was cracked and buckled from the explosion. His face was visible and recognizable as his bloodied body was taken out of the car on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance by firemen and rescuers.

Hawi, a Christian, frequently spoke out against Syrian intelligence and interference in Lebanese affairs.

"We are stunned," Prime Minister Najib Mikati said after hearing of the explosion. He blamed "conspirators" against Lebanon, pointing out that every time Lebanon moves a step forward something comes to attempt to destabilize it.

I watched an hour-long interview with Hawi rebroadcast on al-Jazeera today. He was delightful, smart, and humorous. A big loss.

Here are are the words of one reader:

Georges Hawi, former Communist party leader and heavy critic of Syrian interference in Lebanon has been assassinated this morning in a car bomb.

May Allah rest his soul in peace

He was brave. It's a big loss for syrian and lebanese democrats.

Pleas For Syria To Tighten Border
TANAF, Syria, June 20, 2005, CBS News

On a hill overlooking Iraq in the bleak Syrian desert, government officials on Monday pointed out new security measures including taller sand berms that they've taken to keep foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq.

But Western diplomats say Syria still could do more. And, the diplomats added, the Syrians need both better intelligence and better night-vision equipment to keep insurgents from infiltrating into Iraq after dark.

The Syrian authorities gave journalists the rare tour of border areas Monday to highlight improvements in security measures as U.S. forces on the other side waged the latest offensives against insurgents believed to have entered from Syria.

Damascus is under intense pressure from Washington and Baghdad to tighten control of its porous border.

A giant picture of President Bashar Assad looked over the bleak desert landscape as several hundred trucks waited to cross into Iraq at Tanaf, one of the main posts along the 360-mile frontier with Iraq.

On a hill nearby overlooking Iraq, a Syrian border officer pointed to the tall sand barrier that runs along the border, saying the government has increased the height of such berms to 12 feet as a measure against infiltrators and smugglers.

The officer, who would not give his name because of the sensitivity of the border issue, said the Syrian government has deployed 7,000 troops along the border.

The journalists, who were driven for 120 miles along the berm north from Tanaf, could see small outposts set along the way, each staffed with about a half-dozen Syrian solders who snapped to attention and saluted as the trucks drove by.

There is an outpost every 400 meters or 3 kilometers, depending on how sensitive the area is, said the officer and about 540 outposts altogether.

The government also has filled up desert storm water valleys, or wadis, with cement blocks and barbed wire to prevent smugglers and infiltrators, the officer said. During the day, there are patrols and at night, they set ambushes for infiltrators, he said.

But the region shown to journalists was not the most vulnerable to insurgent crossings, said Col. Julian Lyne-Pirkis, a defense attache from the British Embassy in Damascus who has surveyed the entire length of the border.

More insurgents cross further to the northwest, at the border town of Abu Kamal, across from the Iraqi town of Qaim, where they can move among the people without drawing suspicion, said Lyne-Pirkis, who accompanied Monday's trip.

The Syrians did increase their work along the border starting nine months ago, he said, nevertheless, the border remains "very difficult" to control especially at night.

"They are making progress, but they can still do more on the border to improve it," he said.

He said security measures remained "fairly basic," relying on Syrian troops who have "mostly just their eyes to survey the border, and that is not enough."

The Syrians have asked the British for night-vision equipment, and British officials have promised 700 pieces, Lyne-Pirkis said. But he said the deal was awaiting approval at a higher level in the government.

Such equipment is expensive, and would be difficult for Syria to obtain because of restrictions on the types of military equipment that western countries will sell to Syria.

The Syrians also need to improve patrols and get better intelligence to understand how the insurgency works, Lyne-Pirkis said.

Another Syrian border official acknowledged that it is difficult to keep insurgents from crossing at night, although he said such crossings are generally prevented during the day.

That official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the border issue, said 15 border guards had been killed either by outlaws crossing the border or by fire from U.S. troops who apparently mistook the Syrians for infiltrators. He did not provide more details.

On the Iraqi side, some 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops are carrying out two military campaigns, code-named Spear and Dagger, aimed at destroying militant networks near the Syrian border and north of Baghdad. About 60 insurgents have been killed and 100 captured since the campaigns began at the end of last week.

Troops said they found numerous foreign passports and one roundtrip air ticket from Tripoli, Libya, to Damascus, Syria.

Intelligence officials believe Anbar province, which borders Syria, is a gateway for extremist groups, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq, to smuggle in foreign fighters.

Imams Hussainy and Habash on Democracy in Syria

The following remarks made by Imam Muhammad Habash, the principal "reformist Imam" of Damascus and member of Parliament, and Imam Mahmoud Abolhuda al-Hussainy, the principal reformist Imam of Aleppo, were sent to me by Karim Moudarres, a businessman and friend who lives in Aleppo. Karim attended a meeting of European parliamentarians and Syrian religious figures, recently convened at the monastery Mar-Moussa. Dayr Mar-Moussa is run by an Italian priest who promotes inter-faith dialogue. Karim also includes the sermon that al-Hussainy gave at his mosque in Aleppo, after returning from Dayr Mar-Moussa.

This is worth reading, particularly for the words of Imam Mahmoud Abolhuda al-Hussainy, because he addresses the question of democracy and Islam quite forthrightly. Not only does he explain to the European statesmen that most Syrians view their approach to democracy as hypocritical because they insist on strict separation of church and state and seek to exclude Muslim parties, but he also criticizes Syria for excluding Muslim parties. The questions he asks are important to the West and Syria in their present predicament.

Here is Karim Moudarres' letter:

Dear Josh,

I was present at Mar-Moussa Monastery when the European Parliamentarians met with Syrian Religious Figures to carry a discussion on Democracy from the Syrian religious point of view. Among many Christian and Muslim figures, Mr. Mohamad Habash and Mr. Mahmoud Abolhuda Elhussainy, M.D. were present. One side would ask the other side a question; they would answer and then ask a question in return.

The Europeans stressed that the European experience is specific to Europe and should not be exported as a model to other regions of the world. Syria should make use of its experience to develop its own system of democracy. Some European members were concerned whether Islam allowed such practices and if separation of church and state, as the foundation of a democratic system, is possible in Syria.

Mr. Mohamad Habash was asked the following: "We don’t understand the Christian / Muslim relationship which has worked very well in Syria, and we don’t understand the Jewish / Muslim relationship.

Answer: (Spoken in English): "Welcome to Syria the blessed land. Muslims call Syria 'al-sham al-sharif' meaning 'noble land'. Christians consider Syria the 'Holy Land'. Welcome to Syria.

According to the clash of civilizations, it is important to note that the Prophet called for cooperation among the people of scriptures. He introduced himself as a prophet who came after Jesus, Moses and Abraham. You read in the holy book 14 times: 'Oh Mohamad we sent you to confirm what came before'. I agree that there are some radical directions in the Islamic World, but we can also find radicals in Europe and America. The description of the clash of civilizations did not come from the Islamic world but from Mr. Huntington in the United States. He called for the clash of civilizations and the end of history. We in the Islamic World refuse this idea and call for the dialogue of civilizations. Mr. Khatemi as the president of Iran and OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) proposed to the UN in 2001 to call it the Year of Dialogue of Civilizations on behalf of 55 Muslim countries. I personally go further and call for the unity of civilizations in accordance with the profit who said: 'the profits before me are like a beautiful house and I am the last brick in the house. I am the seal of prophets.'

You can not consider yourself a Muslim without having faith that Jesus was the prophet of God, the messenger of God, the word of God and the spirit of God. We believe that Jesus is still alive until now and will return to the White minaret in Damascus where you can see it today built with no mosque waiting for his return. The Grand Mufti of Syria was asked once by the Canadian Ambassador about the number of Christians in Syria and he replied as 17 Millions since all Muslims have to have faith in Jesus.

We believe the number of radicals in Syria and the Middle East is on the rise for two reasons. First is the presence of some radical culture and second is injustice. I believe the way to arrive at Democracy is by supporting the peace process win the Middle East and getting some balance between Arabs and Israel. If we can find such balance then we will arrive at more tolerance, more cooperation, more brotherhood and more fraternity."

Mr. Habash did not ask a question.

Mr. M. Abolhuda El-Hussainy, M.D. was asked the following: "Is there hope? And how can we make hope our incentive forward?"

Answer (translated to English): "I believe nations without hope will die because desperation is the first step to extinction. As a practicing physician, I know from my clinic that people with advanced degrees of depression have suicidal tendencies. At the same time I don’t want this hope to be expressed here as mere exchange of good wishes among the members of this respected congress. I only heard some words of compliments from my brothers on the Syrian. I don’t think you are here to hear compliments but rather help get to the bottom of the problem.

First: Syrian society fully respects European societies and considers it a promising hope in the unipolar world we all know so well.

Second: Civil society must be heard in our country. You should not listen only to points of views representing the official word of the State. For the sake of being honest I say civil society is not about secular parties only but is also composed of an important majority with an Islamic focus - not to be ignored. I strongly stress that Syrian society is religiously moderate. Mr. Patrick Louis (European MP on the panel) described our society as one conforming submissively to religious law. In order to reach a better understanding of each other, I would like to emphasize the following: in separating the church from the state, Europeans have developed a secular system for regulating their governments, politics and economies. On the other hand, the church continues to preach Christian values to society.

I was happy to hear from Mrs. Patrie (European MP) how the European Society has its own individuality and uniqueness. We too are unique. In order for you to have a better understanding of the Syrian society with its Muslim majority, you have to learn that Islam is divided into two important parts:
1- A legal part focusing on government, economy, politics, and human relations.
2- Another part focusing ethics, ideology, and metaphysics.

In other word, with our part of Islamic law dealing with government, economics and politics we are capable of debating current European laws freely on the table because this part of Islamic law is very resilient and highly discussable.

As for means of worshipping God, we go to Churches to hear directives to God and you go to Mosques to hear directives to God.

This is not our problem for I would like to get to the bottom of the problem and say: hearing people like Mr. Patrick Louis calling for strong separation of church and state without knowing the nature of Islam is the main problem between the two Islamic and European societies.

It is very true to say the Islamic World is split two ways:
1- One way made the fatal mistake by calling for the implementation of Islamic laws on the rest of the world using forceful means. Such a mistake could not be farther from the heart of Islam.
2- The other way represents the majority of Muslims in calling for moderation, democracy and debate. It could not be farther away from extremism and violence. This represents the majority of Muslims around the world and in Syria.

Therefore we should not focus on the eccentric part misrepresenting the heart of Islam and generalize about the entire Muslim society without making the distinction between the eccentrics and the majority believing in "No subjugation in religion" as stated in the Qoran. Our title from the Qoran is "We honored the children of Adam" goes in line with the call to embrace the "culture of honoring humanity" as called for by the lady from Italy who spoke before me.

Now the question I would like to put forward to the European MP's: "Why do we talk about democracy while we breach democracy?" Let us be honest. The veto in the Security Council breaches democracy. Some practices against veiled women in Europe go against the heart of democracy. The European support of oppressive governments is undemocratic by itself. Banning those who would like to discuss Islamic laws from political forums is undemocratic. This is my question for I would appreciate an honest answer since we do very much believe in democracy with no exceptions of any kind.

Then on Friday, June 17, M. AbolHoda Elhussainy gave his Friday sermon from the historic Adliya mosque with a strong connection to the debate in Mar Moussa with the European MP's. Some of his sermon is interesting: It can be read here.

"Today we hear all over our Muslim World and in our country repeatedly the word democracy and promises of democracy (with an exception I should add)." "The exception says: democracy is for the seculars who declare publicly that their minds are pure from the word of God! I say from here: as long as the doors of democracy are opening we are obliged to express the spirit of Islam. It is true that there are those who misunderstand Islam and misunderstand the course of Islam for our Islam teaches us to recognize the other. Those who deviated and want to force Islamic culture on the world are no different from the enforcers of globalization, although with a different agenda. Haven't these deviators ever heard of the message of the profit to the Christian Emperor of Byzantium stating: 'Oh people of the book let us come to a word of agreement between us!' This is the culture of Islam which teaches us to be kind to those who oppose our religion and opposed our culture. God is ordering us to be kind to the opposite when he chooses not to fight us."

"Why should the followers of this culture be banned from expressing their views through official democratic means?" "We are hearing nowadays that parties will be licensed and muti-partism will start. Why did they exclude from this plan those who have their minds affected with Islamic culture? Are they a menace to be avoided? What should they do to purify themselves from this menace? Is this the cross road to future democracy? Truthfully Islam is the Imam of democracy if they only knew. We are ready to stand hand in hand with them against the extremists who do not represent Islam because we believe the extremists are distorting our image and the image of Islam."

"We don’t know if the secularists' offer is restricting us because of their ignorance of Islam or trying to irrationally intimidate our youth." "If you would like to ban those who are in favor of embracing Islamic culture from establishing Islamic parties, why don’t you at least permit the establishment of civil society committees?" "Let there be some publicly elected committees of dialogue with only an advisory role without any executive or legislative powers" "Let us discuss with each others freely, amicably, and peacefully while we try to build our new society together. Don’t perceive us as enemies but rather as partners trying to build our country together. "

"Another idea: why not establish an Islamic advisory committee to be elected by Islamic scholars for the sole purpose of discussing and advising with no members appointed by the government so it does not loose its legitimacy and independence?"

"One more idea: if those who subscribe to Islamic culture are banned altogether from forming licensed parties, why not open the door for the establishment of social reform committees: civil society committees to include scholars, scientists, and the educated elite. These social reform committees in a civil society will be kept away from power yet in touch with the people and we can expect good results. Our society needs reforming since current laws are not reforming bribery, corruption and dishonesty. Reform can be achieved by the people of reform. There are many good members of society currently working on reform using individual means yet are banned from congregating to maximize and unite their efforts. They are told: you can not gather; you can not form parties; you can not form committees. What is next?"

"Our enemy is not overseas but our enemy is ourselves, for, unfortunately, we don’t know how to build a civilization and how to initiate our renaissance."

UNDP Help for Imams Stirs Controversy

The UN and Syrian government recently signed a deal to help Syrian Imams with training courses and booklets. This rather innocuous program has stirred considerable controversy in Syria. Jordan already subscribes to the program. UNICEF provides Imams with short booklets that deal with topics such as water conservation, the environment and AIDs. The pamphlets provide Quranic suras that relate to these issues.

One friend explained to me that Syrian Imams are paid badly. Until recently they received $60 a month from the state. Muhammad Habash, the liberal Imam and parliamentarian recently helped pass a bill that raised their salary to $80. Because Syrian Imams are not paid higher salaries if they have advanced degrees, many Imams merely get a certificate from Islamic institutes, which qualify them to become an Imam. They have no incentive to pursue higher education.

This means that assistance from the UN can be helpful in broadening the education and awareness of Imams. Of course, it also brings with it the fear of Western "brain-washing," which the following article by Islam on Line raises.

Syria Enlists UNDP Help to Fight Extremism
By Salwa Al-Astawani, IOL Correspondent

DAMASCUS, June 15, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Syrian government’s religious training program deal with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) aims to fight rising extremism and fanaticism in the country, sources close to the government said Wednesday, June 15.

“The expanding Salafist, Jihadist and extremist currents are now ringing the alarm bells in the government,” the sources told IslamOnline.net on condition of anonymity.

The government is also concerned that the chaos and sectarian tension in neighboring Iraq could spill over to its territories, they added.

The agreement was signed Monday, June 13, following a meeting between President Bashar Al-Assad and UNDP Regional Director Rima Khalaf Hunaidi.

“It is aimed at qualifying scholars and religious institutions, and polishing up their skills,” UND Regional Coordinator Ali Al-Zatari, who inked the deal on behalf of the UNDP, told IOL Wednesday.

He said the training will be based on media, up-to-date technologies and seminars.

The sources also told IOL that the government was "determined to stand up firmly to extremists and violence before spreading like wildfire in the country as it is the case in some Arab and Muslim countries".

They cited last week’s Damascus raid by Syrian troops on a cell calling itself the Levant Soldiers for Jihad, which led to the killing of two cell members and the seizure of weapons, hand grenades, violence-inciting leaflets and walky-talkies.

Failure

But Islamist MP Mohammad Habash said the UNDP religious training program is predestined to fail because “developing religious discourse is a purely Islamic affair.”

He suggested setting up a “National Religious Guidance Council” to rein in fanaticism.

“The idea, however, was roundly rejected by the ruling party,” he told IOL.

Other Islamists, who requested anonymity, said Muslims are in no need of foreigners to teach them their religion

They charged that the program was designed to implicitly change curricula under the war on fanaticism and UN cloak.

Analysts believe that poverty and ignorance are breeding ground for rising fanaticism and violence in Arab and Muslim countries.

They also blamed the phenomenon on the government's heavy-handed approach, the absence of freedom of expression and democracy, the crackdown on political parties and movements and the strict secular agenda of the state.

They further said that the governments should lift its hands off religious institutions and stop exploiting them as tool to serve its political interests.

The ruling Baath Party, which concluded on June 9 four days of brainstorming sessions on its future, has ruled out the possibility of forming religious parties, closing the door to key groups like the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

The Baath congress, which analysts said only came up with modest reforms, was preceded by a series of arrests of political opponents and Muslim Brotherhood activists.

IslamOnline.net, 16 June 2005.

Ibrahim Hamidi recently published this article in al-Hayat on the UNDP-Syrian agreement.

سورية تستعين بخبراء دوليين للحد من التعصب وتحويل دور المؤسسة الدينية الى تنموي
دمشق- ابراهيم حميدي ,الحياة - 14/06/05

كشفت مصادر دولية لـ«الحياة» امس ان الحكومة السورية وقعت اتفاقا مع «البرنامج الانمائي للامم المتحدة» يهدف الى تحويل دور «رجال الدين والمؤسسات الدينية الى اتجاه تنموي يحد من التعصب»، بالاعتماد على وسائل اعلام حديثة والمناهج المدرسية وتوفير كتب ومنشورات وعقد ندوات.

تزامن هذا مع اعلان السلطات السورية عن تفكيك «خلية ارهابية» تابعة لـ«تنظيم جند الشام للجهاد والتوحيد» بعد اكتشاف عمليات تعصب مشابهة في مناطق اخرى في سورية.

وكان المنسق المقيم لـ«البرنامج الانمائي» علي الزعتري وقع الاتفاق مع وزير الاوقاف السوري انس الايوبي. وجاء في مسودة اولية للاتفاق ان «البرنامج سيقدم لرجال الدين والمؤسسات الدينية برنامجا للتأهيل ولتطوير وتعزيز قدرات المؤسسة الدينية ومهارات العاملين فيها».

وكانت الحكومة السورية رفضت توقيع هذا الاتفاق، لكن الموافقة السورية جاءت بعد لقاء جرى بين الرئيس بشار الاسد ومدير المكتب الإقليمي للدول العربية في «البرنامج الإنمائي» ريما خلف هنيدي، بسبب توفر قناعة سورية بـ«ضرورة التركيز على الدور التنموي للدين».

وبحسب مسودة البرنامج التي تخضع حاليا لمراجعة من قبل خبراء الامم المتحدة، فان الخطة تتضمن «منهجا متكاملا يستعين بوسائل الاعلام والاعلان والكتب والمناهج المدرسية ودورات التأهيل والتطوير وتكنولوجيا المعلومات واللقاءات والندوات العلمية والشعبية، التي تستهدف رجال الدين والمؤسسات الدينية».

وفي سورية نحو ثمانية الاف جامع و120 معهدا لتحفيظ القرآن الكريم واكثر من 22 معهدا لتدريس علوم الدين ودراسات عليا في الشريعة الاسلامية.

ولاحظ خبراء الامم المتحدة ان الاحصاءات الرسمية «تكشف وجود مشكلات وسلوكيات تعاني منها المجتمعات العربية عامة (والمجتمع السوري) وتزداد هذه المشكلات حدة يوما بعد يوم ما يشكل عائقا حقيقيا في وجه التنمية والتطوير الاجتماعي والاداري والاقتصادي ويعيق كثيرا برامج التطوير الرسمية وغير الرسمية».

وكان النائب الاسلامي محمد حبش قال لـ«الحياة» انه اقترح على الحكومة السورية تأسيس «مجلس وطني للتوجيه الديني» بما يساهم من «الحد من ظاهرة التعصب الديني التي بدأت تظهر في البلاد»، قبل ان يشير