Bashar Assad makes military top priority as new president

NICOSIA [MENL] -- President Bashar Assad has made the military a priority of his regime in Syria.

In his first day as president, Bashar attended a Syrian military exercise this week. He was accompanied by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ali Aslan and was briefed on the army's readiness for war.

Bashar has made the military and its loyalty to the regime a priority, Arab diplomatic sources said. He has replaced or reshuffled several key military commanders and plans to promote his supporters and family members, the sources said.

Syria's official media said the combat exercise and the use of weapons by the military was regarded as a success. Assad praised the military and stressed the importance of training.

After the exercise, Bashar met the leadership of the ruling Baath party.

Arab diplomatic sources said Bashar's stress on the military is meant to bolster his authority as a commander. Unlike his late brother Basel, Bashar, trained as an opthalmologist, spent little time in the military.

The sources said Bashar plans to maintain a low-profile in Syria and ease tension with opposition groups. They said the new president has issued an order to stop hanging his portraits on the streets of Damascus. They added that Bashar also wants to release imprisoned members of the Communist Party and Moslem Brotherhood.

Bashar is also expected to seek a resumption of a dialogue with the United States. The president plans to send Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shaara to Washington at the end of the month for meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.