Rifaat Assad

Arafat snubs Rifaat Assad
7 August 2000

Al-Arab al-Yawm (Amman) cited "informed Palestinian sources" as saying that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Yasser Arafat recently declined an invitation to meet with Rifaat Assad, the estranged uncle of Bashar Assad. Rifaat conveyed the request through two friends of his son, Sumar--Dr. Khalid Salam, an economic adviser close to Arafat, and Hisham Makki, a PA media official. Arafat had long been supportive of Rifaat (last year Sumar made a highly publicized trip to Gaza) during his exile from Syria, but in recent months has changed course in order to strengthen relations with the new Syrian president.

Syria set to test new ballistic missile
8 August 2000

Foreign Report (London) cited an Israeli military intelligence source as saying that Syria has successfully developed (or acquired) a number of Scud-D ballistic missiles and is planning to begin testing them "soon." The Scud-D has a greater range (700 km) than the Scud-C (500 km), meaning that Damascus can build launch pads deep within Syrian territory that are more impervious to detection or attack by Israel. The Scud-D also has a modern navigational system, making it much more accurate than its predecessor.

Syria, Iraq open rail link
12 August 2000

A new Syrian-Iraqi railroad linking Aleppo and Mosul was formally opened today with the arrival in Aleppo of a passenger train carrying 31 Iraqi and Syrian travelers. The restoration of rail transport will facilitate the growth of Iraq's imports from Syria, as well as its use of Syrian and Lebanese ports to import goods from Europe.

Syria announces plan to establish private banks, stock market
19 August 2000

An economics official in Damascus said today that the Syria will "very soon" establish private banks and its first-ever stock market as "a response to the requirements of developing the national economy and the country's economic interests." The country's ruling Ba'ath party nationalized all private banks when it took power in the late 1960's. Since then all Syrian banks have been state-run.

Report says Bashar set to marry CNN reporter
20 August 2000

The Arabic newspaper Al-Zaman (London) reported today that Syrian President Bashar Assad is planning to marry a 27-year-old CNN reporter of Syrian origin. The report did not mention her name, but it may refer to Hala Gorani, a U.S. citizen with family roots in Aleppo who heads a CNN business program in London. A CNN spokesman later said that Gorani (who is 30 not 27) has denied the report. In recent weeks there have been other (questionable) reports in the Arab press of Bashar courting prominent eligible women, including a Jordanian princess and the daughter of a prominent Lebanese politician.

Cisco trained Syrian telecom engineers in Dubai
23 August 2000

Al-Bayan reported today that the Dubai office of the computer networking firm Cisco Systems, Inc. has been training Syrian engineers despite a ban on computer exports to Syria by US companies. "Twenty-four engineers from the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment underwent a series of training programs in February at Dubai Internet City, Cisco and Thuraya (a satellite telecoms company)," said the report.

Israel deports Syrian spy
24 August 2000

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deported Hasan Abu-Adallah, a Syrian national convicted of espionage, was deported today after he completed a five-year sentence. He crossed into Syria at the al-Qunaitira crossing on the Golan Heights.