-Caveat Lector- Assad predicts defeat for invasion force
Mood of militancy grows as chief cleric calls on Muslims to launch suicide attacks Jonathan Steele in Damascus Friday March 28, 2003 The Guardian Syria's President Bashar al-Assad yesterday became the first Arab leader, other than Saddam Hussein himself, to express the hope in public that the US and British forces invading Iraq would be defeated. In a front-page interview with Lebanon's as-Safir newspaper, he said they might be able to occupy Iraq but would not succeed in controlling it. "For sure, the United States is a superpower that can occupy a relatively small country ... The United States and Britain will not be able to control all of Iraq. There will be much tougher resistance," he said. "If the American-British designs succeed - and we hope they do not succeed and we doubt that they will - there will be Arab popular resistance, and this has begun," he added. Syria has been leading the Arab world in sharp attacks on what President Assad has repeatedly called "flagrant aggression". His latest remarks, which are the most radical so far, are a sign of the increasing militancy of the public mood, not only in the "Arab street" but also among decision-makers. Daily TV pictures of dead and wounded civilians have angered people across the Middle East while the unexpected level of Iraqi resistance has given many a sense of pride and solidarity. Hundreds of Iraqi exiles in Syria and Jordan have signed up to go home to fight, including many who oppose President Saddam but feel a patriotic need to rally to the country's defence. Religious leaders are also speaking out. While Iraqi Shia leaders called for opposition to the invasion earlier this week, Syria's senior cleric added his voice yesterday. Martyrs Sheikh Ahmad Kiftaro, the Grand Mufti of Syria, called on all Muslims to resist the US and British invasion and sacrifice their lives as martyrs, if necessary. It was the duty of all Muslims to resist the US and British forces, he said. "All Muslims have to use all possible means of defeating the enemy, including martyrdom operations against the invading warriors." The mufti usually pronounces at Friday prayers but in the special statement issued by his office yesterday he also called on Muslims to boycott British and American goods. His radical statement has surprised western diplomats here, where he is con sidered a moderate and venerable figure. The British embassy was seeking urgent clarification yesterday on whether in addition to calling for resistance inside Iraq he meant to encourage suicide bombers to attack US and British targets in Syria and elsewhere. In Syria all protest demonstrations require government support and the capital has seen almost daily marches and sit-ins since the US and Britain launched their attack on Iraq. US and British flags have been burnt and protesters have tried to break through police lines to march on the American and British embassies. Close to 100,000 people took to the streets and government employees and university and school students were given time off to parade through Damascus on Tuesday in the largest protest in the Arab world since the war began. Some marchers carried banners denouncing the Egyptian and Jordanian heads of state with the slogans "Death to Mubarak" and "Death to Abdullah". Egypt has protested to Syria over the rally. Resistance It is only three months since President Assad was received in London on a visit which included tea with the Queen and was praised by President George Bush for voting for UN security council resolution 1441, which warned Iraq of serious consequences if it did not comply with UN weapons inspectors. Syria is the only Arab member on the council. Now Syria is leading the diplomatic resistance to the invasion, describing Arab governments which have supported it as "traitors". Its foreign minister, Farouk al-Shara, drafted the resolution at the Arab League meeting in Cairo on Monday which called for an "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of US and British forces from Iraq and urged Arab states not to give logistical or other back-up to military action against it. The call was adopted by 15 foreign ministers. Only Kuwait expressed reservations. Syria's radical stance and its hope that the US gets bogged down in Iraq stem from anxiety that Syria may be next in line for US pressure if the Bush administration topples President Saddam. Asked whether he believed Syria would be next on Washington's target list, the President Assad answered: "The possibility is always there. As long as Israel exists, the threat is there." But he insisted that "worry does not translate into fear". "The real war will start after they remove Saddam Hussein," Adnan Omran, Syria's information minister, told the Guardian yesterday. "There will be more resistance, assassinations, kidnappings, bombs here and there. It's not Afghanistan. It'll be harder. It's Iraq. The sooner the Americans and British leave, the better." <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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