World Tribune.com

Assad dies, demonstrations begin in Damascus

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Saturday, June 10, 2000

NICOSIA [MENL] -- Hafez Assad, the ailing Syrian president who was eulogized for nearly 20 years, has died. He was 69 and his death leaves a power vacuum in Syria.

"Death has taken away from Syria a leader," an announcer on Syrian television said before bursting into tears.

Assad died on Saturday morning. By evening, demonstrations in support of Assad and his son and heir-successor, Bashar, began in Damascus.

The death of the Syrian president comes a week before the ruling Baath Party was to convene to choose Bashar to a leadership role, a key move in preparation for succession. The ailing president had prepared for Bashar's appointment by jailing or exiling potential rivals or critics of the 35-year-old Bashar.

The death of Assad appears to have driven the final nail of the coffin of peace efforts between Israel and Syria. The United States had been exploring the prospect of renewing Israeli-Syrian talks, suspended in January.

Saturday, June 10, 2000

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