DATE=6/10/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=ASSAD OBIT
NUMBER=5-46479
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The president of Syria, one of the Arab
world's longest ruling heads-of-state, Hafez al-Assad,
has died in Damascus at the age of 69 following a
lengthy illness. V-O-A's Middle East Correspondent
Scott Bobb takes a look at the life of one of the
region's most redoubtable leaders.
TEXT: The death of Syria's President Hafez al-Assad
ends the rule of one of the Middle East's most
imposing leaders. And it further advances a region-
wide transition of leadership from an older generation
marked by the struggle against colonialism and for
Arab identity -- to a younger generation interested
the challenges of globalization and high-technology.
The "Lion of Damascus", as Mr. Assad came to be known,
struggled as a young man against Syria's entrenched
elite. He rose through the ranks of the military and
the Baath Party to take power in a bloodless coup in
1970.
As president, he sought to set up a socialist state in
Syria and make his country the leader of the Arab
nationalist movement. He also sought to lead the
struggle against Israel. By the 1970s he headed the
rejectionist states that refused any contact with the
Israeli government and defied diplomatic efforts to
bring peace to the Middle East.
/// ASSAD ACT - IN ARABIC AT 1994
NEGOTIATIONS FADE UNDER ///
Yet, in the 1990s, President Assad began negotiations
with Israel, which broke off for three years, but
resumed in January of the year 2000. His purpose was
to regain the Golan Heights, lost in the 1967 Arab-
Israeli war, and to leave his successor in a better
position to address the conflicts between powerful
interests that had been kept at bay by his wily,
sometimes ruthless, rule.
Hafez al-Assad was born on October 6th, 1930, to a
peasant family of the Alawite Muslim minority group in
the village of Qardaha, a few kilometers from the
Mediterranean port of Lattakia. At nine-years of age,
he began school in Lattakia, where one of his early
recollections is of having to fight the arrogant sons
of the wealthy merchants who paid his teachers'
salary.
While in secondary school, he joined the Baath Party,
which envisioned a socialist Arab nation united to
counter the effects of European colonialism and
centuries of occupation by foreign empires.
At the age of 20, young Hafez al-Assad joined the air
force. He graduated in 1955 from the military academy
at Homs with the rank of lieutenant. He was posted to
Cairo during Syria's brief union with Egypt and was
imprisoned there for a month when the union collapsed
in 1961.
Upon his release, Mr. Assad returned home where he
joined a group of disgruntled young officers that
became increasingly involved in the turmoil of Syrian
politics. Following a power struggle, Mr. Assad was
appointed Minister of Defense, at the age of 35.
During the next few years, he consolidated his
authority over the military. When he was challenged
at a party conference in 1970, he took power in a
bloodless coup on November 16th.
Hafez al-Assad was elected unopposed to the presidency
the following year, setting a pattern that for the
rest of his life saw him re-elected every five years
by more than 99 percent of the vote.
The seemingly orderly political process at times hid
major challenges to his authority. But the crafty
leader overcame these through a combination of
political skill and, when necessary, ruthless
repression.
/// OPT /// Mr. Assad used tact to co-opt the wealthy
merchants of the majority Sunni Muslim group, who
historically had ruled Damascus. And he used military
might to crush an uprising by Islamic conservatives in
the town of Hama in 1982. His tanks and heavy
artillery virtually destroyed the town during a three-
week offensive that killed an estimated 20-thousand
civilians.
In the international arena, Mr. Assad remained
committed to Arab causes, but he also demonstrated
independence. Syria sided with Iran and against the
Arab world in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980's. And in
1990, Mr. Assad revived Syria's predominant influence
in Lebanon in exchange for quelling its 15-year civil
war. /// END OPT ///
During the Gulf War, Mr. Assad sided against Iraq and
sent 19-thousand troops to the region as part of the
Desert Storm coalition. This alliance regained the
friendship of many Gulf Arab leaders and brought a
renewal of ties between Syria and the U-S government
after years of estrangement.
In his latter years, he sought to assure his legacy by
setting up his son, Bashar, to succeed him, and by
seeking to recover the Golan Heights, which were lost
to Israel while he was defense minister. Although he
felt history would judge him primarily on the issue of
the Golan, most observers believe Hafez al-Assad
ultimately will be remembered as the dominant
political force in Syria's post-colonial history.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SB/JWH/RAE/JP
10-Jun-2000 14:59 PM EDT (10-Jun-2000 1859 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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