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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters 'An old friend'
PRESIDENT Boris Yeltsin greeted Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad on Tuesday as "an old friend of Russia" at Kremlin talks intended to open a new chapter in relations between the former Soviet-era allies.Assad's visit, his first to post-Communist Russia, had been postponed twice, once due to internal problems in Russia and on another occasion -- earlier this year -- due to the fact that former Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon was in Moscow at the same time the Syrian president was scheduled to make his visit.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters Yeltsin and Assad had discussed bilateral trade, military cooperation and international issues, especially the Middle East peace process and Kosovo. "Without real progress in relations between Israel and Syria, we cannot speak of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East," Ivanov said.
Assad, who once trained as a soldier in the former Soviet Union, has traded compliments with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in recent weeks through newspaper interviews. In its bid to boost its own influence and that of Syria in the Middle East, Moscow is considering the sale of up to $2 billion worth of arms to Damascus in a move which could upset Russian ties with the United States.
Washington considers Syria a pivotal player in the Middle East peace process but has not removed it from a blacklist of states considered supporters or sponsors of international terrorism. US law would require withholding aid to Russia if lethal military equipment were transferred to any country on the list.
Moscow hopes to supply Syria with the upgraded version of its MiG-29 fighter aircraft, the MiG-29 SMT version which has been in production since last December. Damascus is also believed to be seeking anti-tank systems.
Both countries are keen to revive trade, which has slumped to $170 million annually compared to around $1 billion in Soviet times. They are due to discuss projects in the fields of energy, construction and water irrigation.
Russian officials may also raise the sensitive issue of Damascus' $12-billion debt to Moscow stemming from previous purchases of Soviet arms, but impoverished Syria is unlikely to be able to repay them any time soon.
Ambush on amnesty day
SUSPECTED Islamist militants shot dead six Algerian government soldiers and wounded two when they ambushed a military convoy last weekend, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.About 20 rebels, hiding on both sides of the road, sprayed the convoy with machine-gun fire near Al-Aouana village in the Jijel region 240 km (150 miles) east of Algiers, said the daily Liberte.
The newspaper blamed the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Algeria's most radical Islamist guerrilla faction, for the attack. The GIA has rejected peace talks with the government to end seven years of violence.
The ambush took place on Sunday, when President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika declared an Independence Day amnesty for thousands of militant prisoners linked with a different opposition group. The amnesty was the first tangible fruit of a deal last month between the government and the relatively moderate guerrilla wing of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). Under the deal, the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS) ended its guerrilla war against the government and offered to fight alongside it against more extreme rebels. The AIS has its main base in the Jijel area, where Sunday's ambush took place.
Those pardoned on Sunday were militants involved in "soft" guerrilla activities, such as providing rebels with logistical and material support or gathering information.
The daily L'Authentique reported on Tuesday that prisons across the country had released 1,500 pardoned militants on Monday, and a Justice Ministry official said 5,000 prisoners would be freed altogether.
The influential daily Al-Watan on Tuesday assailed Bouteflika for pardoning the militants, saying in a forthright editorial that his policy of trying to end the conflict through dialogue and reconciliation would only worsen the crisis.
Those released were "people who had bound the feet and hands of civilians who were butchered by terrorists, or were on the lookout to help terrorists kill soldiers," it said. "A policy granting pardon [for those involved in violence] is a selfish one, sullying the memory of thousands of the victims of a fascist ideology," Al-Watan added.
Bouteflika says 100,000 people have been killed in the violence which erupted in 1992 after the army-led authorities cancelled a general election which the FIS was poised to win.
