[Peace-discuss] Syria

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Fear and anger in Syria 

By Kim Ghattas 
BBC correspondent in Damascus 

In a year's time, there will be American tanks rumbling through the narrow 
streets of this typical Middle Eastern city - at least that's what a lot of 
people here are starting to believe as every day brings more US accusations 
against Syria. 

Under the vaulted roof of the beautiful souk al-Hamidiyyeh in the old city, 
shoppers are going about their business. But, in the middle of the spice 
market, the carpet sellers and the ice cream vendors, there's a palpable 
tension. 


One woman told me how worried she was. She didn't believe there was really 
going to be an American war against Syria, but still she couldn't help 
wondering. 
A year ago, she said, the US was accusing Iraq of having weapons of mass 
destruction and ties with terrorists. Now there were American tanks in 
Baghdad. Would that be the lot of Syria a year down the line, she asked. 

And, as very often in this region, the woman was convinced that, as a 
journalist, I knew more than her about the American plans and begged me to 
tell her what I thought was going to happen to her country. 

Well, what I do know is that the US and Syria have never been great friends 
for many reasons, all political. There's also a strong sense of nationalism 
in Syria. Many of my friends here tell me that although they want to be 
modern and connected to the rest of the world, they're proud Syria is still 
resisting American pop culture, there are no McDonalds or Levi Jeans. 

'Imperialistic troops' 

There's always been distrust of the US here, but now there's also real anger, 
and it's very obviously whipped up by the authorities. 

I'm Lebanese and I speak Arabic and that's often helped me in my reporting to 
get the trust of people I interview around the region, but now even that's 
not enough to convince some people to talk to me as a BBC correspondent - and 
I've had my share of insults from angry mobs. 


Even Iraqis aren't immune to angry Syrians. Just before the fall of Baghdad, 
I was standing by the side of the road talking to some Iraqis who were 
telling me how much they hated Saddam Hussein and wanted to see him go. 
They said it didn't matter if the US was waging the war because of Iraq's oil 
- under Saddam they had never profited from the oil gains anyway, and they 
didn't have any freedom. 

Maybe the Americans would take the oil, but at least they would give Iraqis 
their freedom. 

All of a sudden, a Syrian man came up to us screaming. How dare they 
criticise a leader who was fighting against the imperialistic troops? How 
could they allow the Americans into their country? 

'Traitor' 

The Iraqis started screaming back, saying Arabs had never done anything for 
the Iraqis, never said anything about Saddam killing his people by the 
thousands, and now anti-war protesters around the world were brandishing 
posters of Saddam. The Iraqis were furious. 

The shouting match went on for a while before we managed to escape to a 
nearby a shop and continue our conversation about the future of Iraq. 


But then Baghdad fell without much of a fight and the Syrians were furious. 
How dare Saddam give up like that? Where were the gates of hell he had 
promised to the Americans? 
Now there are rumours every day that wanted senior Iraqi officials are hiding 
in Syria. Syria is probably the best way out - better than any of Iraq's 
neighbours where they would walk straight into the arms of the Americans, or 
in the case of Iran, into the arms of their worst enemy. 

A very lonely, sad-looking Mohammed al-Douri, Iraq's man at the UN, is now 
staying in my hotel in Damascus, but I haven't seen any wanted Iraqis here 
yet. 

And it may not be such a good idea for Saddam and his followers to head to 
Syria anyway. One man I spoke to in Damascus said that the rumours about 
Saddam fleeing to Syria were nonsense. 

Saddam, he said, was a traitor for not fighting the Americans and if he even 
dared showed up at the Syrian border he would be shot immediately for 
betraying the Arab cause. 


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/29

58643.stm

Published: 2003/04/19 11:21:35