| Baby Assad digs in his heels. I predicted yesterday he won't last out the year. Clock's ticking. With the possible exception of the ayatollahs, these are the only friends he has left in the world... |
Syrian President Bashar Assad met Saturday with leaders of 10 militant Palestinian groups based in Syria, defying U.S. pressure to crack down on these groups. The meeting came as Syria is facing international demands on another front — that it cooperate with a U.N. probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. Amid the pressure, Assad decided not to attend the world summit at U.N. headquarters in New York next week. Assad also received a U.S. snub when it was announced in Washington Wednesday that the Syrian leader will not get an invitation for a gathering of European and Middle Eastern leaders hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice next week in New York.The United States is also pressuring Syria to make greater efforts to prevent anti-U.S. militants infiltrating across its border into Iraq and to crack down on militant Palestinian factions based in Damascus. In Saturday's meeting, Assad urged the radical Palestinian leaders — including Khaled Mashaal, the political leader of the militant Hamas group — to close ranks and continue the struggle in order to achieve their goal of an independent Palestinian state, Syria's official news agency SANA reported. The Palestinian leaders expressed their "appreciation of Syrian support for the Palestinian cause and stressed their desire to restore their rights, especially the right of return," SANA said.