DAMASCUS: A year after the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, Syria is sending a defiant signal to the world by naming as vice-president a man who rarely shies away from verbal confrontation with the West.
President Bashar al-Assad appointed veteran Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara as his deputy on Saturday, assigning him the task of coordinating foreign and media relations.
“By giving Vice-President Shara a supervisory role over foreign affairs, the message from the leadership is clear: there is nothing wrong with our foreign policy,” said Ayman Abdel Nour, the head of a Damascus studies centre.
Syria, which denies any part in Hariri’s killing in a Beirut truck bombing on Feb. 14, 2005, was blamed for it by many Lebanese and remains under intense international pressure.
This led to its military withdrawal from Lebanon in April after a 29-year presence. The UN Security Council has threatened unspecified action unless Damascus cooperates fully with the investigation into Hariri’s assassination.
Assad and Shara are among senior Syrian officials that UN investigators have asked to question over the killing.
Damascus says there is no way Assad will submit to questioning. Diplomats have previously said the UN inquiry might be allowed to interview Shara. Several senior Syrian security officials have already been questioned.
Assad has said Damascus is willing to cooperate with the UN investigators but not at the expense of its sovereignty.
Shara, known for his combative style as Syria’s top diplomat for the past two decades, was promoted to a job previously held by Abdel-Halim Khaddam, who had publicly criticised his handling of Lebanon and of relations with the United States.
Khaddam, Shara’s predecessor as foreign minister, quit in June, later breaking with Assad in a rare show of dissent in Syria’s ruling echelon. Khaddam now lives in Paris, meeting Syrian opposition groups and vowing to oust the government.
Before he resigned, he had blamed Shara for the foreign policy blow of a 2004 UN Security Council resolution that demanded the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon.
Shara’s appointment signals that Assad remains in control and is resisting foreign pressure, Syrian analysts said.
“There is definitely a message of defiance; President Bashar al-Assad, and not outside forces, is the decision-maker in Syria,” said Imad Shueibi, a political commentator close to the government’s thinking. “All that talk about the regime under threat has proved to be rubbish.”
He said the naming of Walid al-Mualem as the new foreign minister could aid dialogue with Lebanon and the United States.
Mualem, seen as a protege of Shara, was ambassador to Washington in the 1990s and has dealt extensively with Lebanese officials in the past two years.
Shara has been leading efforts to explain Syria’s position and gain regional support over the Hariri issue.
High on the agenda has been calming Saudi Arabia’s anger over the killing of Hariri, who held a Saudi as well as a Lebanese passport and was close to the Saudi monarchy.
Syria needs all the Arab support it can get to fend off demands from Washington, which says it must seal its border with Iraq to prevent insurgents from crossing to attack US forces there, stop interfering in Lebanon and withdraw support from Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups opposed to Israel.
Damascus sees its influence in Iraq, Lebanon and with the Palestinians as vital to its claim to a regional role.—Reuters
