Posted on 01/28/2006 7:43:00 PM PST by jmc1969
Senior source in Damascus tells Ynet Syrian leader Assad interested in deal that would allow him to stay in power; the price: Incriminating senior officials behind Hariri killing, cutting aid to anti-U.S. fighters in Iraq. Assad still refusing to dismantle Hizbullah
Syria's Assad wants a deal: Syrian President Bashar Assad is engaged in advanced contacts with the U.S. and France in a bid to work out an agreement that will allow him to stay in power, a senior source in Damascus told Ynet.
According to the source, the contacts are being undertaken through Saudi intermediation and are meant to resolve the international crisis currently faced by the Syrian leadership.
The deal being worked out is reportedly based on the following understandings: Two senior Syria officials, General Rustom Ghazaleh and one of his assistants, Jameh Jameh, will be incriminated in connection with the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Meanwhile, Assad himself and particularly his brother-in-law, Asef Shawkat, will be cleared of involvement in the killing.
Moreover, the Syrians are expected to end their support for anti-American elements operating in Iraq and pledge to tighten border controls and act to end arms transfers into Iraq.
The Syrians will also pledge to minimize their cooperation with Iran, which is funding and directing many of the groups fighting American troops. Notably, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Damascus a week ago.
The Iranian-Syrian connection is raising concern in the West, particularly in light of reports that the Iranian leader was accompanied in the visit by arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, one of the world's most wanted terror figures.
(Excerpt) Read more at ynetnews.com ...
And what do we do once the Syrians break this deal?
> Assad interested in deal that would allow him to
> stay in power; the price:
> ...
Oops, we forgot to tell you we also want:
- Saddam's WMDs
Sounds like someone is trying to save his skin
How reliable is this news agency?
Opinion?
Yeah...this sounds like a deal that ASSAD wants...don't see anything to indicate that Bush is all that interested.
Sounds like appeasement to me.
Assad will not cease supporting the Jihadists or terrorists any more than a lion will become a vegetarian.
We should NEVER accept such a deal. We should ROLL into Syria and capture Iraq's WMD's. Then we should HANG Syria's leadership. This as a start.
Now how could we have left out that little detail? Oh, that's right. Saddam never had any WMDs. How silly of me.
1. Assad is implicated. Kofi hisself can not undo this.
2. Syria has aligned with Iran. Hezbullah will carry out the orders. Done deal.
Well that is a start. Now how about the WMDs Saddam shipped into Syria before the War?
I see no advantage if we accept the deal as written in this piece. There should be no deal unless its a Khadafi-style climb-down. We get the WMD, both Syrian and Iraqi, plus we get all the incriminating details. We want names, and we want places.
And we want the stuff boxed up and shipped to the US.
I'm looking for confirmation of this story. So far nothing.
Assad will carry out Hezbullah's(Iran's) orders.
Not going to happen.
Assad and his crime family murdered one of the top leaders of another country.
The screws are going to be put to them way worse than this.
It may be appeasing a tiny player while we focus on the bigger ones. Once Iran lights up, small silly deals with Syria won't matter.
So what?
Even if Assad came out and said he ordered Hariri's death it means nothing. The US still wouldn't be able to institute regime change against Syria because we don't have the troops and the worst possible situation is if we simply took out Assad and left Syria a destabilized mess.
Yes
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