16 - 22 August 2001
Issue No.547
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 16 - 22 August 2001 Issue No.547 |
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Make one friend, lose several
Economic need and political pressure are bringing Baghdad and Damascus closer together. But not everyone will be charmed by their new-found warmth. Salah Hemeid investigates
Syrian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa Miro concluded a landmark visit to Baghdad, Monday, becoming the highest ranking Syrian official to go to Iraq after more than two decades of political froideur. Miro's visit crowned nearly four years of efforts by economically and politically isolated Iraq and cash-strapped Syria to end a conflict that has cost both dearly.
Arriving in Baghdad, Miro said he hoped the two countries would be able to enhance their economic and trade cooperation and build "partnership in all fields."
President Saddam Hussein, who received the Syrian prime minister and his accompanying delegation on Saturday, responded to Miro's statement by saying, "the strengthening of Iraqi-Syrian ties will be a great achievement, not only for both countries but for all Arabs."
So what has changed in relations between the two Arab neighbours who have been on the verge of war many times in the past two decades?
Relations between Syria and Iraq, ruled by rival factions of the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party, first deteriorated in 1980, when Iraq accused Syria of orchestrating a plot to overthrow Saddam. Bitterness followed over Damascus's support for Iran during its eight-year war with Iraq. Relations worsened when Syria joined the US-led alliance that drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War.
Saddam holding up a sword during his meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Mustafa Miro (left)
(photo: AFP)
The first thaw in ties came in 1997, when Syria, strapped for hard cash, approached Iraq for contracts under the UN oil-for-food programme. The neighboring Arab countries have opened interest sections in each other's capitals and reopened their borders to private travel. Relations have improved further under Syrian President Bashar Assad, who took office in July 2000.
One development marking a major improvement in bilateral ties is the reopening of a joint pipeline that carries Iraqi crude to a Syrian Mediterranean terminal. Syria says the 893 kilometer pipeline has only been readied, but according to oil experts, the pipeline was opened last year and is now pumping some 100,000-150,000 barrels a day, generating at least two million dollars a day in illicit funds for Iraq. Syria benefits, analysts believe, by importing Iraqi oil cheaply, masking those imports by using Iraqi oil at home, and exporting an equal volume of Syrian oil at international market prices.
As a result, Syria has been put on a list of most-favoured nations, along with two of Iraq's neighbours - Jordan and Turkey. While Baghdad is dishing out lucrative contracts from its oil riches to reward Damascus for political support, it expects Syria to back its campaign to end the 11-year-old UN sanctions imposed after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait and lift the two no-fly zones imposed by the United States and Britain over northern and southern Iraq. An example of Syria's solidarity with Iraq was its outright objection to the "smart" sanctions which Washington proposed to replace the current floundering economic embargo.
Iraq's need for support, from anywhere, was highlighted hours before Miro's arrival in Baghdad, when dozens of US and British warplanes struck three sites in southern Iraq in a raid which the allies claimed targeted Iraq's anti-aircraft network. Iraq said the bombers were targeting civilian installations and reported one civilian dead and 11 injured in the raid. Miro seized the opportunity to tell Saddam that Syria opposes both the sanctions and the no-fly zones and that "it considers any aggression against Iraq as an aggression against Syria."
In return, Iraq's vice-president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, promised that Iraq will stand with Syria in the event of a military attack by Israel, a typical Iraqi outburst, but carefully designed to signal that, despite its isolation, Iraq intends to make a return to the Arab-Israeli struggle, its favourite stage for irking the Americans and the Israelis.
Washington may take the bilateral vow of solidarity as mere rhetoric. What may concern the United States more is the unauthorised shipments of Iraqi oil through Syria and the large-scale cross-border smuggling.
Syria has shown no interest in Washington's proposal to permit Syria to help Iraq export oil openly, provided the revenue is used to buy food and medicine for the Iraqi people under a UN programme. The Bush administration is also looking for ways to tighten controls on weapons material that it claims still reaches Baghdad from other nations in the region. Syria has denied oil smuggling and reaffirmed its support for the UN resolutions banning Iraq from building its weapons arsenals. But after its recent détente, it should expect pressure from Washington to reconsider any warming of relations with Iraq. It could prove a tricky path. If Syria stops the illicit trading of Iraqi oil, it will lose some billion dollars annually, which it badly needs to support its rickety economy. But it must tread carefully if it is to avoid American anger, Israeli indignation and castigation from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia: oil-selling rivals and no friends to Iraq.
In a related development, Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad is due to start a 24-hour visit to Kuwait on Saturday for talks with Sheikh Jabir Al-Ahmad Al-Subah, the Emir of Kuwait. The Syrian leader is expected to allay Kuwaiti worries over his country's growing ties with Baghdad.
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