Assad Tampers with New York Times Interview: One Message to Americans, Another to Syrians(MEMRI)

http://memri.org ^ | 1-7-03 | Subhi Hadidi

[OXENinFLA]

Assad Tampers with New York Times Interview: One Message to Americans, Another to Syrians

In an article posted December 5, 2003 on Al-Rai, the website of the Syrian Communist party, Syrian journalist Subhi Hadidi [1] criticized the omission of extensive segments in the official Syrian Arabic version of President Bashar Al-Assad's lengthy November 30, 2003 interview with The New York Times. The interview was conducted in Arabic and translated into English by Assad's office for publication by The New York Times, and an Arabic version was published by the Syrian government news agency Sana and by the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. The following are excerpts from Hadidi's article criticizing Assad in Al-Rai: [2]

Two Languages, Two Versions "The Syrian president granted a lengthy interview to the American paper The New York Times, which revealed the mentality of Bashar Al-Assad directing all his words, deeds, and ways. This is Al-Assad's most important interview to the American press, as it gives a good example of the philosophy that prevails in the presidential palace…

"Is it conceivable that the president makes statements for quoting to the American press (which is the international press, since the interview was published in English), but that these statements aren't exactly the same as the ones published in the Syrian media? And if so – and this is more than the sick mind imagines – how can this president be young, modern, and a reformist (even in a very remote sense), and how can he possibly be seen as a president who is in charge?

"Let us begin with the numbers: The English version, as published on The New York Times website, had 11,280 words… The Syrian news agency Sana and the official Syrian press published what it called the 'full version' but this had only 5,500 words. The London paper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published the 'full Arabic translation' of the interview, which was 7,667 words long.

"Where did the 2,200 words vanish to, if, as the American press said, it was the president's office that prepared the English translation? What did Al-Assad tell America and the entire world yet at the same time thought not fitting to tell the Syrians?

"The part that was omitted included questions and answers regarding [Syria's] domestic situation, Iraq, Hizbullah, normalization with the Hebrew state, and U.S.-Syrian security cooperation. These are topics that require special advancement, but I will point out in brief a surprising statement made by President Al-Assad, which was showcased in both the Western and Arabic press:

"'During that time [i.e. the 1980s], Saddam Hussein would send large railroad cars loaded with explosives in order to kill hundreds and thousands of Syrians. He killed more than 15,000 over the course of four years.'

"Is this true? Did Saddam Hussein kill 15,000 Syrians over the course of only four years? When did Saddam carry out these terrifying massacres, and where? Why are we hearing about them for the first time [only] now? How did the government keep silent all this time in the face of such a frightening number of victims among its citizens?

...............Snip

[OXENinFLA]

This looks good.

Does FR have a thread where we can predict when we will "deal with" Syria

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