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Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 June 2000 Issue No. 486 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 June 2000 Issue No. 486
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Birds of a feather
By Gamal NkrumahAs befitting an ardent Arab nationalist, the funeral of the late Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad was an overwhelmingly Arab affair. Western presence was obviously minimal and representation from the rest of the world, with a few notable exceptions -- North Korea, Japan, South Africa and, curiously, Bangladesh -- was rather low key.
French President Jacques Chirac, who headed his country's delegation to Assad's funeral, was the only non-Arab and non-Islamic head of state in Damascus on Tuesday. Accompanying Chirac was French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and other top-level officials. The high-powered French delegation was indicative of the importance with which France views Syria as a key player in the Middle East peace process and throughout the Arab word. It also highlights the growing economic and political ties between Paris and Damascus.
France is widely regarded as the most sympathetic Western power to the Arab cause and has traditionally been viewed as the champion of the Lebanese Maronite minority. France and Syria both want to see a politically stable and prosperous Lebanon, but they haven't always seen eye to eye, most notably during the two-decade-long Lebanese civil war. Chirac said Tuesday that France was committed to reinforcing its cooperation with Syria over Lebanon and was keen to assist in the Middle East peace process. At the moment, France has a large contingent of peace-keeping forces in Lebanon with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and it has signalled that it will conditionally increase the number of its peace-keepers there.
This said, as the former colonial master of both Syria and Lebanon, Paris is at pains not to tread on Arab, and especially Syrian, sensibilities. After all, France was instrumental in carving out Lebanon as a separate nation from Greater Syria. At the funeral, Chirac praised Assad, saying that his 30-year rule allowed Syria \"to experience remarkable stability.\"
Representation from other European nations was more low profile -- German Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook attended on their countries' behalf, and other European nations held back even more. Pope John Paul II, for his part, paid tribute to the late Syrian leader saying that, \"for a long time, he guided the destiny of his country and played a major role in the Middle East.\"
From south Asia came India's Human Resource and Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, and among the distinguished guests paying their last respects was former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was received as if she were the head of the official Pakistani delegation. Her brother, Murtaza Bhutto -- long a political opponent of Benazir -- was closely connected with Assad's Syria and lived in exile there for 16 years following the 1977 military coup that ousted his father.
But the highest representation from south Asia came from Bangladesh. Its delegation was headed by the prime minister, Sheikha Hassina Wajed, reflecting the growing economic ties between the two countries in the past few years.
Only a handful of representatives from Africa and Latin America were present, which comes as no surprise since Syria under Assad -- though a member of the Non-Aligned Movement -- focused its foreign policy on Arab nationalism rather than Third World solidarity. A notable exception, however, was South Africa. South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister Noksazana Dlamini-Zuma was the highest-ranking official from sub-Saharan Africa at the funeral.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela was keen to play a mediating role in the Middle East peace process and visited Syria in connection with this. Last year South African Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad, a Muslim South African known for his keen interest in promoting closer ties between South Africa and the Arab World, visited Syria as part of a Middle Eastern tour.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who is currently on an official visit to Yugoslavia, paid tribute to the late Syrian leader. \"President Assad in his lifetime had attached much importance to relations with China,\" Zemin told reporters in Belgrade. Syria's relations with China had traditionally been lukewarm -- Damascus was viewed in Beijing as a close Soviet ally during the years of the Sino-Soviet split. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, relations between the two countries improved considerably, however. China was represented in Damascus by State Councillor Ismail Amat, who belongs to the Uighur ethnic minority and is a native of China's predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang.
Japan, a major donor of foreign aid to Syria in recent years, dispatched its minister of foreign affairs, Yohei Kono, to head its delegation. Tokyo is aiming to play a more prominent role in international politics, and sees Syria as an important Middle Eastern country with good economic potential. Japan has contributed over $1.8 billion in assistance to Damascus.
At times like these, it becomes increasingly clear that a state funeral may be a somber business, but those who attend are saying more about their countries' foreign policies than extending condolences. In the end, it was those countries that shared a similar political outlook to Assad's Syria that paid him the most heartfelt respects.
Unquestionably, it was North Korea that paid the most resounding homage to Assad in all of Asia. Syria has long maintained very close military and political relations with North Korea and is one of the few countries that refuses diplomatic relations with South Korea. The two nations have long been high up on Washington's list of so-called \"rogue states\" sponsoring terrorism.
In Pyongyang flags flew at half mast and North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-Il sent a message of condolence to Bashar Al-Assad describing the late Syrian president as a \"close friend of the Korean people, who exerted sustained efforts for developing the friendly relations between the peoples of our two countries.\" North Korean Prime Minister Hong Song Nam also sent a message of condolence to his Syrian counterpart Mohamed Mustafa Mero.
The official North Korean government paper Rodong Sinmun mourned the death of Assad, pointing to the historic and friendly relations between the late \"Great Leader Kim Il Sung and Assad.\" In an editorial, the paper stated that Assad \"devoted his whole life to the struggle for the independence, sovereignty, progress and prosperity of [Syria].\"
Pyongyang rolled out the red carpet for Assad on at least two occasions, and it is rumoured that the Syrian leader paid several secret visits to North Korea. North Korea was instrumental in boosting Syria's missile defense system and Syria has long sought to benefit from North Korea's military build-up, which in recent years has leaned heavily on missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Pyongyang produces ballistic missiles, such as Taepodong I, tested in 1998, and the untested long-range Taepodong II, and Syria has received massive shipments of North Korean missiles over the past three decades. Syria has also been interested in Pyongyang's continuing nuclear-related work, even after the closure of North Korea's Yongbyong nuclear reactor in 1994.
North Korean Defence Minister Vice Marshal Kim Il-Chol headed his country's delegation to Damascus, where he praised Assad as \"an outstanding leader.\" He also said that \"the lofty exploits left by [Assad] for Syria and the Syrian people will remain forever.\"
