Syria's Gestures. Will They Last?

By Michael Kraft

By Michel Kraft

The press reports that Syrian officials captured and turnover to Iraqi authorities the half brother of Saddam Hussein and more than two dozen former Baathists, are another sign of the zigzag tight- rope walking policies of the Syrian leadership.

The capture of Subawi Abraham al-Assam was described by Iraqi sources as a good will gesture, according to the Associated Press. Even if the reports turn out to be overstated, they have the earmarks of what passes for a charm offensive by Syria on the eve of meetings with American officials. Just last week Syria said � without specifying a date -- that it will withdraw some of its troops from Lebanon.

The New York Times reported that al-Hasam is believed by Iraqi officials and American commanders to have funneled large amounts of money from Syria, where he sought refuge after invasion, to insurgents in Iraq. If so, his capture is a significant though not necessarily long lasting step in the efforts to cut off the money flow to the insurgents.

The weekend news of the capture came on the eve of a previously planned meeting Monday between David Satterfield, deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs, and Syrian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud. And it follows the unprecidented demonstrations in Lebanon. Just a coincidence?

The U.S. has pointed the finger at Syria for the assassination of Former Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14 and withdrew its Ambassador. That issue and other disputes are undoubtedly in Satterfield�s talking point. Even before Hariri�s assassination, the U.S. had stepped up its criticism of Syria for giving safe haven to supporters of the insurgents who have been attacking American troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces. This safe haven and Syria�s inability or refusal to better police its borders with Iraq, have cast an increasing chill on Syrian-U.S. relations.

Over an even longer period, Syria has come under U.S criticism, although not always sustained, for harboring fundamentalist terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and old line secular Palestinian terrorist groups (the PFLP-GS among others) on its own territory and the areas it controls in Lebanon. Syria controls the flow of rockets and ammunition shipped from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Syria has been on the U.S. list of terrorist-sponsoring states since the formal designations began in 1979. Economic sanctions were tightened up following the implication of Syrian officials in an aborted effort to place a bomb aboard an Israeli El Al passenger jet leaving London�s Heathrow airport in 1986. Since then, the State Department has said it in annual Patterns of Global Report that Damascus had not been found to be directly involved in terrorist activities but continues to give support and sanctuary to terrorist groups and therefore should remain on the terrorism list.

Despite any efforts to "make goodwill gestures, Syrian leader Bashar Assad has his own reasons for continuing to support both the old terrorists and the new ones. Continuing to allow Hezbollah a sanctuary for firing missiles at Israel is a way of keeping cards against the Israelis as part of his desire to eventually gain back the Golan Heights lost by his father in the 1967 war. Syrians have benefited from the drug trade and financial dealings from their presence in Lebanon, and their support for the well financed Baathists who used Syria as a staging post for supporting the murderous attacks in Iraq. The Syrians may be capturing and turning over some of the Iraqi insurgency supporters and promising to pull back some of his troops in Lebanon. Yet at the same time Damascus talks of forming a united front with Iran (as if did not already have one), which is the main rival of Iraq and the primary sponsor of Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Basher Assad is trying to work out military deals with Moscow to shore up his aging military equipment.

The arrest of al-Hassan should be seen as not so much as a good-will gesture as an effort to bend a bit with the winds of criticism. The arrests are indeed welcome. But lest anyone portray these arrests as a major change in the Damascus regime�s basic stance, we�ll have to see what the Syrians do during next months, and the months after that. And we�ll have to see if they really take meaningful efforts to prevent Jihadists from crossing into Iraq, and Palestinian terrorists from trying to blow up the tenuous peace efforts. Don�t hold your breath.

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