DATE=6/15/2000
TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=ASSAD'S DEATH LEAVES MANY QUESTIONS
NUMBER=6-11876
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
INTRO: Seldom does the world's press have to deal
simultaneously with two more momentous events than the
death of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and the
historic meeting of the leaders of South and North
Korea in Pyongyang.
In the Middle East, and elsewhere, international
editorial page editors were assessing the
repercussions of the Syrian leader's death and how it
will impact on the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
that are supposed to be moving toward a settlement in
September.
We get a sampling now from ________ in this week's
World Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: Several Lebanese and Egyptian dailies are
anticipating that Syria's new leadership will promote
better Syrian-Lebanese and Syrian-Palestinian
relations, thus strengthening the overall bargaining
position of the Arabs with Israel. European dailies,
for the most part, wondered whether Bashar Assad, the
late president's 34-year-old son, would have the
internal strength and political cunning to maintain
his father's rule in Syria.
TEXT: To Israel first, where, in Tel Aviv, Haaretz
writes in an editorial:
VOICE: Israel is entitled to expect that the
talks with Syria, when they resume, are
fashioned to do more than address technicalities
and matters of detail. They must also take
Israeli public opinion into account. Hafez
Assad spared no effort to guarantee that the
Israelis remained alienated from Syria and its
leadership. In contrast, Bashar Assad, who was
educated in the West, is perceived as someone
who understands how public opinion molds a
democratic government's decision-making process.
Thus Bashar, who now holds the key ... would be
wise to direct a share of his words and deeds
toward the Israeli public ...
TEXT: As for the Jerusalem Post's view, here's part
of an editorial from Tuesday [6/13]:
VOICE: The first measure of whether Syria has
in fact turned over a new leaf will be whether
Hafez Assad's ignominious record of state-
sponsored terrorism finally comes to [an] end
... Syria's modus operandi (method of operation)
was to treat aggression against neighboring
states as its right, and to expect to be "paid"
diplomatically for ending its unacceptable
behavior.
TEXT: For a Syrian view of what lies ahead, and of
the late president's legacy, we turn to the
government-owned Syria Times in Damascus.
VOICE: President Assad has left behind a
complete set of rules and principles that will
serve as guidance to his son in leading the
country to the shore safely, and realizing his
noble goals ... Given the perversities of
Mideast politics, the only way to ensure that
this approach will work, is through pursuing the
late president's policy. Dr. Bashar is well
positioned to do so. Any expectation that a
dramatic shift in policy will occur ... appears
groundless ...
TEXT: For the Lebanese reaction, we turn to Sunni Al-
Liwa in Beirut.
VOICE: If [President] Clinton will not settle
the matter this time and, as a sponsor of the
peace process, act honestly, he will have again
lost a historic chance, as when he did not turn
the summit [with] ... President al-Assad in
Geneva into a historic landmark in the Arab-
Israeli conflict.
TEXT: In Egypt, we turn to the Arabic language daily
in Cairo, Al Ahram, which writes:
VOICE: It is a major injustice to characterize
America's interest in Syria based on the sole
presence of [Secretary of State Madeleine]
Albright at the funeral. In the past few
months, the United States hosted a series of
Syrian-Israeli talks ... and President Clinton
intervened more than once ... This does not mean
... Washington will rush toward Damascus, but it
may wait until the domestic situation is stable.
TEXT: An earlier column in Al Ahram focused on
President Assad's successor:
VOICE: [Mr.] Bashar has a great responsibility
to help Syria transcend the crisis of Assad's
death to dealing with the challenges of peace
and economy ... [President] Assad was able to
turn the country into an influential regional
power ... He prepared [his son] Bashar to rule
with a new vision. [He] is a civil (not
military) personality interested in fostering
modern developments in technology and the
economy ... Bashar will seek his father's
footsteps with his own vision for government.
The question is: How can peace with Israel and
economic revival occur without mistakes
threatening the stability that [President] Assad
established.
TEXT: On to the Gulf now, where we see this article
in Al-Siyassah of Kuwait City, which asks:
VOICE: What will happen to Syria after Bashar
(Assad) takes the lead? His job will not be
easy. He will be faced with enforcing the
constitutional ruling [clearing the way for him
to take office] first before paying attention to
economic and political issues. Bashar will face
new challenges, such as globalization, to
guarantee the stability of Syria.
TEXT: For European reaction, we go first to Britain,
where London's Guardian published this analysis after
the Syrian president's death:
VOICE: Israel's sigh of relief at the death of
Hafez Al-Assad was so loud we have virtually
been able to hear it from here. Suddenly
Israel's most lasting enemy has been plucked off
the board of Middle East politics. But
Israelis, and their prime minister in
particular, should temper their joy. With the
old strongman gone, Syria will find it harder,
not easier, to make peace. Israel has painted
[President] Assad as the great stumbling block.
... The truth is more interesting. The Israelis
have knowingly made demands that [[president]
Assad could not accept. ... Even without such
demands, Bashar Al-Assad could be forgiven for
hesitating to rush into the arms of Israel. The
fate of those who have is not comforting
TEXT: In Scotland, Edinburgh's The Scotsman ran this
assessment from East Jerusalem.
VOICE: Few Palestinians here were moved by the
death of the Syrian president ... For supporters
of Yasser Arafat, he is recalled as a man whose
policies collided repeatedly with the
aspirations of the P-L-O (Palestine Liberation
Organization). Mr. Assad's name is associated
in the public mind with a massacre of
Palestinians by Syrian-allied Christian forces
in Beirut during the 1976 civil war. ... Still,
Palestinian leaders were clearly hoping that Mr.
Arafat's participation in Mr. Assad's funeral
could start a new, more amicable chapter after
years of acrimony ...
TEXT: In Germany, Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung
pondered the future and wrote:
VOICE: In the peace talks with Israel, which
are in a stalemate anyway, the designated Syrian
leader will not demand less than his father.
The withdrawal from the entire Golan Heights and
from the eastern bank of Lake Galilee. In an
area where Assad Senior did not make any
concessions, Assad junior cannot afford to make
any, since it is not clear what he could win
during President Clinton's last months in office
and in view of the weakness of Israel's Prime
Minister Barak ...
TEXT: And finally in North America, the Globe and
Mail of Toronto in Canada views the late President
Assad this way:
VOICE: File him under "dictators." There's no
other way to describe a man who ruled so
ruthlessly; who ordered whole neighborhoods of
his country's second largest city bulldozed,
people and all, for harboring members of a
militant opposition; who let smuggling and
corruption become the dominant form of economic
expression; who never allowed another candidate
to run against him. ... Yet for all his
brutality, this much could be said of the man:
He was dependable. He agreed to a cease-fire
with Israel on the Golan Heights in 1974, and
for 26 years there has not been a single
incident on the frontier to spoil it. More
recently, he stuck by his word and supported the
United States-led Gulf War against Iraq in 1991,
giving the operation instant legitimacy in the
Arab world. ... Hafez Assad was a dictator, but
his son has a chance to be found among the
peacemakers.
TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of
reaction to the transition under way in Syria
following the death of Hafez Al-Assad.
NEB/ANG/JP
15-Jun-2000 17:25 PM EDT (15-Jun-2000 2125 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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