Orlando Sentinel (Florida) May 03, 2003
Syria: Friend Or Foe?
With U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell scheduled to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus this weekend, questions abound about America's relationship with the country. Although the U.S. accused Syria of sponsoring terrorism and warned the country not to harbor Iraqi leaders from Saddam Hussein's regime, American officials also recognize the strategic importance of Syria in the Middle East.
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION PROGRAMS
Unlike Iraq and Libya, Syria's chemical-weapons plants tend to be smaller and harder to detect. Four production sites have been positively identified - north of Damascus, Homs, Hama and Cerin - and more than a dozen government-run pharmaceutical plants could be easily converted to produce chemical and biological weapons. Syria is now thought capable of producing several hundred tons of chemcial-weapons agents per year.
Chemical weapons
Syria has been producing chemical-warfare agents and munitions since the mid-1980s. The stockpile has been estimated at several thousand aerial bombs - filled mostly with the nerve agent sarin - and 50 to 100 ballistic-missile warheads. Syria is also capable of producing VX agents and tabun.
Nuclear weapons
Syria is suspected of starting a military nuclear program in 1979, and the U.S. and Israel have opposed sales of reactors to the country. In 1998, Russia and Syria agreed on a timetable for a light-water nuclear-research center to be built in Syria.
Biological weapons
Although Syria is thought to be pursuing the development of biological weapons, it probably has not proceeded past the research and development phase.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Hail to the chief. A worker hangs Syrian and Baath Party flags next to a portrait of President Bashar Assad on a building in Damascus, Syria.; ASSOCIATED PRESS; PHOTO: Eye in the sky. Satellite imagery of chemcial-weapons storage facilities at the Al Safir chemical-weapons plant in northwest Syria.; GLOBALSECURITY.ORG; PHOTO: Hafex al-Assad; .;
BOX: SYRIA FACTS; Area: 185,000 square miles; Head of state: President Bashar Assad (since 2000); Parties: Baath Party dominates; other parties have only a little influence.; Population: 17.2 million; GDP per capita: $3,200 (2001 est.); Ethnic groups:; Arab 90.3%; Kurd, Armenian, other 9.7%; Religions:; Sunni Muslim 74%; Alawite, Druze, other Muslim 16%; Christian 10%; Military: 4.5 million fit for service; Total active: 321,000; Army 215,000; Air defense 60,000; Air force 40,000; Navy 6,000; Reserves: 354,000; Paramilitary: 108,000; .; BOX:
KEY DATES IN SYRIA'S HISTORY;
3500 BC: The first known settlers in Syria are Semitic groups including the Akkadians, Canaanites, Amorites and Aramaeans. The Assyrians conquer most of Syria and rule until 612 B.C.
1200 BC: First historical indications that Damascus was a prosperous and economically influential Aramaean city.
539 BC: Syria becomes part of the Persian Empire, which incorporated Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.
331 BC: Greeks and Macedonian,s led by Alexander the Great, conquer the region. Beginning of Greek settlement in Damascus.
64 BC: Syria falls to the Romans and lives under Roman law for nearly 700 years.
20-30 AD: Damascus becomes an important center of Christianity.
395 AD: Division of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern, or Byzantine, empires. Damascus falls under Byzantine control.
635 AD: Arab Muslims conquer Syria and introduce Islam.
1516: Syria becomes part of the Ottoman Empire.
1916: Great Britain and France sign the Sykes-Picot Agreement in an attempt to divide the Middle East into 2 spheres of influence. Syria is established under France.
1918: The Ottomans are driven out of Syria at the end of World War I by combined Allied and Arab forces.
1920-1946: France occupies Syria under a League of Nations mandate.
1946: French rule ends; Syria gains independence.
1955: Syria opposes US efforts to align several Arab countries into a treaty organization known as the 'Baghdad Pact' and joins Egypt in accepting Russian guarantees for its security.
1958: Syria and Egypt merge to form the United Arab Republic.
1961: Syria withdraws from UAR after a military coup in Damascus.
1963: The Baath Arab Socialist Party comes to power and military rule begins.
1967: Syria loses Golan Heights in Six-Day War with Israel.
1970: Gen. Hafez al-Assad, leader of the military wing of the Baath Party, overthrows president Nur al-Din al-Atasi and becomes president. He launches a modernization campaign, including a series of social and economic changes.
1973: Syria and Egypt go to war with Israel to retake the Golan Heights.
1976: Syria intervenes in the Lebanese civil war and occupies parts of Lebanon, including Beirut.
1980-90: Syria backs Iran in the Iran-Iraq War.
1982: President Hafez al-Assad crushes Muslim Brotherhood revolt; destroys rebel city of Hamah, killing 20,000.
1982: After Israel enters southern Lebanon in 1982, Syria takes control in rest of nation.
1986: The U.S. withdraws its ambassador to Syria in response to alleged Syrian involvement in a plot to blow up an Israeli airliner.
1987: The U.S. ambassador returns after Syria expels Abu Nidal's terrorist organization.
1990-91: Syria joins the U.S.-led coalition opposing Iraq's invasion of Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War.
1991: Al-Assad agrees to begin U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations with Israel over the disputed Golan Heights.
1998: U.S. officials warn that Syria has an active chemical-weapons program, including weapons that could spread sarin nerve gas.
2000: After 30 years in power, Al-Assad dies. His son Bashar, 34, replaces him. U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Syria and Israel break down because of West Bank violence.
2001: The U.S. State Department reports that Syria continues to provide support for Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorist groups.
Sept. 11, 2001: President Bashar Assad sends Bush a message condemning the attacks in New York and Washington.
2002: Syria supports U.S.-sponsored Resolution 1441 in which the U.N. Security Council warns of 'serious consequences' if Iraq does not disarm.
2003: Syria opposes the U.S. bid for a new U.N. resolution specifically authorizing force against Iraq.
March 2003: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accuses Syria of selling military goods to Iraq, and says such "hostile acts" will have consequences.;
SOURCES: Knight Ridder Tribune, CIA World Factbook 2002, Military Balance 2002, Periscope, GlobalSecurity.org Sentinel research by Marien Lugo; GRAPHIC BY INGRID PECCA/ORLANDO SENTINEL
Copyright © 2003, Sentinel Communications Co.
