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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