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POLITCS-SYRIA: Palestinian Groups Forced to Shut Shop
By George Baghdadi
DAMASCUS, May 5 (IPS) - Syria has given in to U.S. demands to get rid of
several radical Palestinian groups.
The Syria government seems to have acted under the realities of the "new
strategic situation" pointed out by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on
his visit to Damascus last weekend.
"I wanted to hear President Bashar al-Assad's views on the new strategic
situation," Powell said after his meeting with the Syrian President. And no
doubt, to suggest to President Assad what those views should be.
Powell spelt out what this meant - an end to Syria's support to militant
groups that the U.S classifies as terrorist, while giving a jittery Damascus
the assurance that Syria would not be the next U.S. target.
Powell's point went home. Syria has begun to close the offices of at
least some militant anti-Israel groups in Damascus, he announced in Beirut
later.
"They did some closures," he said. "I expect them to do more with respect
to access and appearances of various officials of these organisations. We've
provided some other suggestions to the Syrians that they have taken under
advisement, and I expect to hear back from them in the future."
The responses of many members of radical Palestinian groups spoke for
themselves. Khaled Al-Fahoum, head of the so-called Palestinian Salvation
Front, said Powell's statement was "correct", but he did not offer any
elaboration.
Ahmed Jibril, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- General Command (PFLP-GC), believed to be the most militant Palestinian
faction based in Syria, did not respond to phone calls. His assistants said
he was not available, and refused even to say whether he was in Damascus.
Maher al-Taher, spokesman for the PFLP, whose group split from Jibril's
years ago said: "I'd prefer not to make any comment." A spokesman for
Islamic Jihad said : "The (Islamic Jihad) leadership is committed to what
the host country decides."
Abu Bilal Bakr, spokesman for Hamas said that "given the sensitivity of
the situation, I would prefer to wait for a word from my boss." His boss
Khaled Mishall refused to comment.
Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, said: "This is not
going to affect the Palestinian resistance. Hamas has only a symbolic
presence in Syria. The resistance is here inside the occupied land and it is
going to continue."
Powell gave no details and Syria provided no immediate confirmation, but
a senior U.S. State Department official said Syria had shut down the offices
of three organisations. The official identified them as Hamas, the PFLP-GC,
and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. All three are fighting Israeli occupation
forces in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
U.S. officials said the offices that Syria closed have helped to direct
suicide bombings and other operations against Israel. Syrian officials say
these were merely media outlets for the groups.
The Palestinian groups may not find hospitality elsewhere. Countries like
Egypt, Jordan and the Persian Gulf nations are not likely to jeopardize
their relationship with the United States by letting them in.
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Buthaina Shaaban declined to comment
on Powell's statement. She said only that Assad had "discussed all issues
within the framework of achieving a comprehensive peace process."
An editorial in the government-run Al-Baath newspaper, which reflects the
thinking of the government, offered the first hint Sunday that concessions
had been made, when it reported: "All issues would find a way to a solution
in parallel with the central cause (the Palestinian issue), including the
Damascus- based press offices run by the Palestinians to project their cause
to the world public opinion."
Assad made clear that a broad settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, including the return of the Golan Heights seized by Israel from
Syria in the 1967 war, was essential for relations to improve, officials
said.
The peace plan, or the "road map" as it has come to be called, provides
for a Palestinian state within three years, an end to violence by both
sides, and a freeze on Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. But
Syrian officials say this only indirectly addresses Syrian issues.
(END/2003)
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