Mystery surrounds a U.S. commando raid on a farm on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq on October 26. … The timing of the raid, a week before America’s presidential election, was striking. …
Samir al-Taqi of the Orient Centre for International Studies, a Damascus think-tank close to government, said the raid would be a crisis for the next U.S. president to inherit. But the Syrian government’s recent overtures towards Israel, in the shape of indirect talks under Turkish mediation, would not, he reckoned, be affected. “Already the Israelis have set themselves aside from this event. I think they are wiser than the neocons in Washington.” Syria’s efforts to improve relations with European Union countries, led by France, would also continue apace. A day after the raid, Mr Mouallem held friendly talks with his counterpart in London.
What makes the raid odder still is that the Syrian authorities have themselves embarked on a nationwide confrontation with al-Qaeda types in Syria, following a string of puzzling incidents. … The authorities have been arresting dozens of suspected Sunni Islamist extremists. It has also been reported that they may expel 80-odd scholars of the puritanical Saudi Wahhabist school, especially those trained in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. Though the state-run media have been coy, residents of Yarmouk have reported arrests and gun battles in their area, including a recent incident when at least two women were arrested in possession of explosive suicide-belts.
The authorities seem rattled. “I think the situation has changed,” says a Western diplomat. “The basic message from the leadership is that now Syria has become a victim of international terrorism and that’s how they see themselves.” Syria has been edging back into the regional diplomacy. The next few months, no matter who is elected America’s president, could be busy—and nerve-racking. Access the full article>>