Received this note from a reliable source in Damascus:

“The Syrians are very comfortable with the visit. We will see many concrete steps being taken between the US and Syria on all fronts, bilateral and regional.”

NYTimes: BY: SHARON OTTERMAN

….Mr. Mitchell said the American government would try to expedite the process for obtaining individual exemptions to the sanctions, which prohibit the export of all American products to Syria except food and medicine.

The move will particularly affect “requests to export products related to information technology and telecommunication equipment and parts and components related to the safety of civil aviation,” said a State Department spokesman, Andrew J. Laine.

While the shift does not change the letter of the law of the sanctions, which were passed by Congress in 2003 and cannot be modified without Congressional consent, administration officials said it was significant because it indicated a change in how the White House would view requests by companies for waivers to sell their wares to Syria.

It is also another notable instance of the Obama administration opening the door to Syria on what it calls a basis of mutual interest and respect — and as part of a broader strategy of trying to get the country to turn away from its alliances with Iran and Islamic militant groups.

….The sanctions have powerful backers in Congress, and the initial reaction against any effort to ease them was swift.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said she was “deeply troubled that the United States would make unilateral concessions to the Syrian regime and ease pressure on Damascus, even as the State Department recently reported to Congress that Syria continues to pursue advanced missile and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons capabilities and to sponsor violent Islamist extremist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.”

Representative Eliot L. Engel, a Democrat from New York, who helped write the sanctions bill, said that while granting such exemptions was “perfectly legal” under the act, he would urge caution. “Syria, from what I can see, has not changed its spots,” he said.

… Mr. Assad also tentatively agreed that a future delegation from the United States Central Command and Iraq would travel to Damascus, Syria’s capital, and discuss greater cooperation in securing the Syria-Iraq border against insurgent traffic, a high priority of the Obama administration….

U.S. Woos Damascus by Easing Export Ban
By JAY SOLOMON
The Wall Street Journal, JULY 28, 2009

DAMASCUS — The Obama administration has told Syria that it will work to ease U.S. sanctions against Damascus, as Washington intensifies its pursuit of détente with a longtime Middle East rival.

The U.S. decision targets spare aircraft parts, information-technology products and telecommunications equipment, sales of which have been restricted by U.S. sanctions on Syria enacted in 2004. The step was conveyed Sunday by Washington’s special Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, to Syrian President Bashar Assad during an hour-long meeting in Damascus.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, meets with Washington’s Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, at al-Shaab palace in Damascus on July 26.

The move represents the latest action in a rapidly accelerating rapprochement between Washington and Damascus initiated after President Barack Obama took office this year, said officials from both countries.

Messrs. Mitchell and Assad also discussed Sunday the possibility of the Pentagon dispatching to Damascus its second delegation of officers from the U.S. Central Command to discuss greater cooperation in preventing the flow of al Qaeda militants and other foreign fighters into Iraq through Syrian soil, said Syrian officials.

The White House hopes to woo Mr. Assad away from his strategic alliance with Iran, in an effort to stabilize Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

For Syria, Mr. Obama’s decision could mean relief from pervasive sanctions that have crippled Syria’s airlines and slowed the Middle East nation’s entrance into the information age. Among the companies that could be affected are airplane maker Boeing Co.; software companies Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp.; and information-technology companies like Cisco Systems Inc.

“We received assurances that the relations between the two countries should resume on the basis of mutual interests and most importantly on the basis of mutual respect,” Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Fayssal Mekdad, said Monday in an interview. “We really welcome such a new approach.”

While significant, U.S. officials said Monday that Washington’s move doesn’t mark a formal lifting or easing of its sanctions on Damascus. President George W. Bush authorized the sanctions in 2004, under legislation known as the Syria Accountability Act, specifically because of Damascus’s support for the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, which are fighting Israeli forces from Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

Administration officials said Mr. Obama would seek to use his waiver authority under congressionally mandated sanctions to aid purchases of U.S. products deemed important to the welfare of the Syrian people…..

Syria vocally opposed the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, despite Damascus’s long-running disputes with Saddam Hussein. Some Syrian officials even worried Mr. Bush’s government could seek to topple Mr. Assad’s government after occupying Baghdad. Today, Syrian officials say that President Obama’s announcement of a clear timetable for withdrawal has provided Damascus with new incentives to cooperate on Iraq.

“Now with a new administration, when we have assurances that the Unites States will withdraw from Iraq by 2011, then we do believe that full cooperation between Syria and the United States in different fields, not only security issues, will definitely be welcomed,” Mr. Mekdad said.

The Obama administration’s moves toward rapprochement with Mr. Assad, however, are raising concerns among some U.S. allies in the region, such as Israel and Egypt, as well as some Syrian democracy activists. They worry that relieving pressure on Damascus could lessen its willingness to cut ties to Hezbollah and Hamas and to open Syria politically.

“The regime feels very confident politically now,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian democracy activist based in Washington. “Damascus feels like it’s getting a lot without giving up anything.”

Currently, U.S. companies seeking to sell specific waiverable products to Syria can seek a license to move forward with the transactions. But under the Bush administration, many of these requests were denied, said Syrian officials, and the bureaucratic process also hindered acquisitions. The State Department said in a statement Monday that Mr. Mitchell told Mr. Assad Sunday that the U.S. now “would process all eligible applications for export licenses to Syria as quickly as possible.” The State Department added that any future move to actually lift sanctions on Syria “would require close coordination and consultation with Congress.”

Syrian officials say that the sanctions have severely hit the country’s national airline, Syrian Arab Airlines, by denying it spare parts. “The sanctions are creating a significant barrier, as multinationals don’t want to come in,” said Nabil Sukkar, a former Syrian World Bank economist.

Messrs. Mitchell’s and Assad’s discussion about sending the Centcom, or central command, mission to Damascus is designed to develop better cooperation between the Pentagon and the Syrian military in securing the Syria-Iraq border, according to Syrian diplomats. Syrian officials said this week that they are open to receive such a delegation, but want it to include Centcom commander, Gen. David Petraeus. A State Department official declined to comment on the issue.

Ibrahim Hamidi writes in al-Hayat that Hamas and US officials as well as Europeans met in Geneva to talk about a two-state solution on June 16 and 17.

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Sami Moubayed: “The Syrians are capable and willing to help the Americans in Iraq, but want Obama to pull the right strings – a la James Baker in 1991 – to get the Israelis to change course vis-a-vis Middle East peace”

Obama lifts some sanctions on Syria
July 27, 2009, United Press International

….Imad Mustafa, the Syrian ambassador to Washington, said the embassy was informed that Washington had lifted economic sanctions related to civilian aviation and the export of communications equipment to Syria, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reports….

Mustafa said U.S. President Barack Obama had suspended several of the sanctions measures, noting more restrictions could be lifted in the future.

“We are focusing with President Obama’s administration on using the U.S. president’s executive authority to suspend the execution of the important articles in the sanctions law,” he said.

Mustafa said the effort was part of a growing sign that Damascus was a vital player in the region. …..

Human Security in the Arab World:

The UNDP released its new Arab Human Development Report on Tuesday, which concluded that “fault lines” in the region have deepened, and that a lack of human security has become a primary factor inhibiting human development. Stressing the importance of rule of law, the report cited the role of Arab states in undermining the human security of their citizens.

Syria back as regional player impossible to circumvent .. Bashar Assad assumes his late father’s regional power….

La Syrie redevient un acteur régional incontournable
LE MONDE | 27.07.09 | 14h20
BEYROUTH CORRESPONDANTE

ans les luttes d’influence qui agitent le Moyen-Orient, Bachar Al-Assad peut se targuer d’avoir remporté une belle victoire en récupérant, au moins provisoirement, la place qu’avait jadis occupée son père, Hafez Al-Assad, celle de leader incontournable dans la région. En atteste la visite, dimanche 26 juillet à Damas, de George Mitchell, l’envoyé spécial de la Maison Blanche pour le Moyen-Orient. Le 14 juin, George Mitchell rencontrait déjà Bachar Al-Assad à Damas pour ce qui constituait alors la première visite officielle d’un diplomate américain de ce rang en Syrie depuis 2005.

En quatre ans, Bachar Al-Assad est parvenu à hisser la Syrie de statut d’Etat infréquentable au rang de puissance incontournable, courtisée par presque l’ensemble de la communauté internationale, sans pour autant avoir répondu concrètement aux exigences des uns et des autres.

Entre 2005 et 2008, le régime syrien apparaissait fragile, menacé par l’administration américaine de George Bush, boycotté par la France, l’Arabie saoudite et l’Egypte qui le suspectaient d’avoir partie liée à l’assassinat du premier ministre libanais Rafic Hariri en 2005.

Aujourd’hui, la situation du leader syrien est à ce point confortable qu’il peut appuyer verbalement l’aile dure de Téhéran, incarnée par l’ayatollah Ali Khamenei et le président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, en pleine crise iranienne, tout en se voyant offrir par les Etats-Unis un signe tangible de normalisation avec le retour, annoncé le 24 juin et après quatre ans d’absence, d’un ambassadeur américain à Damas.

Le 3 juillet, M. Assad, décontracté, invitait, sur la chaîne britannique Sky News, son homologue américain Barack Obama à venir à Damas. “Le président Obama est jeune. Le président Assad est aussi très jeune. Peut-être est-il temps pour ces jeunes dirigeants de faire une différence dans le monde”, avait déclaré son épouse Asma.

L’Arabie saoudite, à l’instar des Etats-Unis, très préoccupée des ambitions nucléaires iraniennes, a elle aussi décidé de dépêcher un ambassadeur en Syrie, à un poste vacant depuis un an. Sans avoir renoncé à soutenir ni le Hezbollah libanais ni le Hamas palestinien, deux menaces armées aux portes d’Israël, Damas a également repris langue, indirectement, avec Tel-Aviv, grâce à la médiation de la Turquie. “Les Syriens possèdent la clé de la région”, souligne le président turc, M. Abdullah Gül.

Le même constat avait été fait, en 2008, par la France qui, pour sauver le projet d’Union pour la Méditerranée (UPM) cher au président Sarkozy, avait initié le retour tangible de la Syrie dans les bonnes grâces internationales. M. Assad figurait ainsi parmi les invités d’honneur au défilé du 14 juillet, en 2008.

L’élection d’un président libanais après des mois de blocage, l’échange de représentations diplomatiques entre le Liban et la Syrie et le bon déroulement des législatives libanaises du 7 juin ont été autant de démonstrations, selon la France, de la fiabilité de la Syrie. Elle se voit récompensée pour sa “non-nuisance” dans le dossier libanais.

ANCIEN RÔLE D’ARBITRE

Les rapports entre Claude Guéant, le secrétaire général de l’Elysée, et le maître de Damas sont officiellement “constructifs”, voire amicaux, en tout cas réguliers. Le chef de la diplomatie française, Bernard Kouchner, a aussi présidé dans la capitale syrienne une conférence régionale des ambassadeurs français le 11 juillet. A cette occasion, il a rencontré les autorités syriennes, auxquelles il n’accordait pourtant que peu de crédit lors de ses premières tentatives de démêler l’écheveau libanais.

Le pari stratégique français visant à éloigner la Syrie de son allié iranien a montré ses limites. En revanche, les bonnes dispositions françaises ont drainé ce que Damas espérait : une reprise des relations avec Washington.

La Syrie occupe aussi un rôle pivot dans la résolution de la crise interpalestinienne entre le Hamas et le Fatah. Parce que la capitale syrienne est la base arrière des radicaux palestiniens. Mahmoud Abbas, le président palestinien, s’en va consulter très régulièrement Bachar Al-Assad. Début juillet, Omar Suleiman, le chef des moukhabarrat égyptien, infatigable mécano du processus de réconciliation, a envoyé son adjoint et son directeur de cabinet à Damas.

Mais le rapprochement le plus spectaculaire, reste celui entamé avec l’Arabie saoudite en janvier, à l’occasion du sommet arabe du Koweït. De sources informées, cette “réconciliation” a été décidée par le roi Abdallah, qui s’en est ouvert à Bachar Al-Assad dans un tête-à-tête en marge du sommet, sans avoir consulté au préalable son partenaire égyptien, Hosni Moubarak. Une visite du roi Abdallah à Damas est attendue prochainement. Le sort d’un nouveau gouvernement libanais pourrait se jouer à cette occasion.

Ainsi la Syrie, dont l’armée avait été chassée sans ménagement du Liban après l’assassinat de Rafic Hariri, retrouve son ancien rôle d’arbitre des querelles libanaises. Malgré la victoire du clan dit “anti-syrien” aux législatives du 7 juin. L’importance de la représentation de l’opposition (dont le Hezbollah) dans le gouvernement libanais sera négociée sous l’égide de la Syrie.

Fortement symbolique de la “victoire” syrienne dans la région sera, enfin, la visite à Damas du nouveau chef du gouvernement libanais, Saad Hariri. Il avait pourtant accusé la Syrie d’avoir assassiné son père. Mais comme tant de Libanais, avant lui, il devra reprendre l’éternel chemin de Damas. – Cécile Hennion

Juan Cole points to one Obama appointment-disappointment

… In the White House, I think it would be hard to find a worse choice than the new Special Assistant to the President, Dennis Ross. Three examples of his skill: a) in the early negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, when he was supposedly the honest broker, he took a more disruptive position than even the Israelis, apparently shocking even them; b) in the build-up to the Iranian elections he sponsored and organized a program to “electronically invade” Iran with destabilizing messages trying, more subtly to be sure than the 1953 CIA-MI6 coup, to “regime change” it. Whatever else could be said about the “Iran-Syria Operations Group” , it played right into the hands of Ahmadinejad and the rightwing of the ulama and the military, giving them a proof text for American interference in the elections and thus may have backfired since no issue in Iranian politics is as sensitive as the fear of foreign espionage; (c) just before his appointment to be the chief honcho on all the Middle East, Ross published a book whose message was essentially ‘let’s try a bit of diplomacy for a short time. Of course it won’t work, but it will justify our attacking.’ That is, his approach to peace-seeking is consistent and negative. Since he is now Obama’s point man, we are in for deeper trouble….

Syria: Building Foundations
Oxford business group, 28 July 2009

Syria’s construction industry can look to the future with a degree of confidence, as investor interest in the country increases and state reforms take hold, though in the shorter term the sector still has a few obstacles to surmount. ….

As part of its wide-ranging reform programme, the government has put in place new regulations governing foreign investment, especially in the financial and tourism sectors. This in turn has resulted in a ramping up of construction work on business centres such as the $500m Eighth Gate project in Damascus and the $217m resort being built by Kuwait’s Al Kharafi Group on the outskirts of the capital.

However, progress of the reform process has not been even. According to the World Bank’s 2009 Doing Business report, which measures and compares regulatory requirements across 181 countries, it has actually become slightly more complex to build a warehouse in Syria over the past year.

The report ranked Syria 132nd overall in its category of dealing with construction permits, down from 124th for 2008, and well behind the UAE, which came in 41st, or Saudi Arabia at 50th. The World Bank cited 26 separate steps that had to be taken before a warehouse could be completed, with the whole process taking 128 days.

Though Syria had slipped down the overall rankings, the report did note some significant improvements, including the speeding up of the process of registering property and an easing of regulations governing trading across borders, important when the import of building materials is taken into account.

On the reverse side of the coin, Syria was ranked near the bottom of the ladder, at 178th, in terms of ease of obtaining credit for construction work, a massive 94 rungs below neighbouring Lebanon.

Although investors are becoming more active in the Syrian construction trade, and demand for large-scale projects is growing thanks to the government’s reforms, still more work needs to be done to promote development and fast track the expansion of the building industry.

Syria: No Exceptions for ‘Honor Killings’
Penal Code Change Positive, but it Still Eases Punishment for Some Who Murder Women

(Beirut, July 28, 2009) – The Syrian government should treat all murders alike and not make exceptions for so-called “honor killings,” Human Rights Watch said today. On July 1, 2009, President Bashar al-Assad abolished Article 548 of the Penal Code, which had waived punishment for a man found to have killed a female family member in a case “provoked” by “illegitimate sex acts,” as well as for a husband who killed his wife because of an extramarital affair. The article also lowered penalties if a killing was found to be based on a “suspicious state” concerning a female family member. The article that replaced it still allows for mitigated punishment for “honor killings,” but requires a sentence of at least two years.

STRATFOR has been closely tracking the slow-going rapprochement between Syria and the United States.

“The “pessoptimist” George Mitchell”
July 28, Al-Watan, by Ibrahim Darraji

“The Arabs placed too much hope in Mitchell, believing he will be able to force the American administration to threaten to impose sanctions on Israel to contain its wild building of settlement projects, which forced the spokesperson of the American Department of State, Philip Crowley, to anticipate Mitchell’s visit by saying: “There have been some reports that were misunderstood about the United States’ intention to place financial and economic pressures on Israel (due to the settlements dossier). This is not true and this is why Mitchell headed to the Middle East”… Amid this climate, questions are being raised about the way George Mitchell will handle the situation and his ability to succeed where others have failed throughout the past decades. However, it seems to be too soon to raise such questions as it would be wrong to show excessive optimism or pessimism since George Mitchell is known for his patience….

Cairo answers Jumblatt: “He is Making Advances to Syria and Hezbollah”

The PSP leader Walid Jumblatt, in his most recent weekly editorial in an-Anbaa, attacked Egypt for having hosted Israeli President Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony held last Thursday to commemorate the July 23rd Revolution. His criticism has led to tension with Cairo, which answered him back through their Foreign Ministry Spokesman,Husam Zaki.

Zaki said : “No one should forget that Jumblat, a leader in the March 14 coalition and who had received Egyptian support, said things like this about Egypt, which had received him more than once,”

“We categorically reject any speculation on Egyptian stances or Egyptian history,” Zaki said in remarks published by pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Wednesday. “We are fully aware of the objectives behind Jumblatt’s remarks,” he added

Al-Hayat, however, quoted official Egyptian sources in Cairo as saying that Egypt was “not surprised” by Jumbulatt’s statements.
“We are aware that Jumblatt has been undergoing political re-positioning and is making advances to Syria and Hezbollah,” the Egyptian official said; adding sarcastically, “Jumblatt is a sectarian leader and his oratory is filled with political slogans, without real convictions behind them.”

Frederick Deknatel has a lovely story of Iraqi artists in Damascus:

Iraqi artist Alaa Ismael paints in his Damascus apartment.
(Frederick Deknatel)

Syria: Iraqi artists, now refugees, struggle to pursue art in exile, | 07.28.09

DAMASCUS, SYRIA – To support his art in Baghdad, Alaa Ismael opened an interior-design office in a commercial area near his house. But after the American invasion, customers dwindled as checkpoints choked the city.

In 2004, his office was burned and robbed by extremists. “They killed everyone, not only artists,” he said. “Jihadis would threaten us, calling us ‘kafirs’ [unbelievers] because of our art, because of the style or subject of our work.” While he was never threatened personally, “threats were all around.”

So Mr. Ismael left with his wife, sister, and nephews for Syria, where he has been for the past five years. He quickly shakes his head when asked about going back. His oldest daughter was an infant when they left Iraq; his second daughter was born here this year.

They all share the same apartment in a ramshackle hillside neighborhood overlooking Damascus. One of its rooms is his studio, where large finished canvases and rolled-up paintings are stacked, unsold.

Ismael is one of dozens of Iraqi refugee artists here, struggling to paint and sell his work to support himself and his family and maintain a semblance of his former life in Baghdad.

“Before the war, Baghdad was the cultural and artistic center,” Ismael said. “There were galleries, art schools, universities. There was movement.”

For him, more opportunities in art exist abroad now – through friends and fellow artists in the Gulf and Europe – than in exile here in Syria.

“There are few galleries,” he says, “and with competition between Syrian and Iraqi artists, Syrians are always preferred. We want to show our pictures to the world, but the problem is always how to sell them.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees agency has supported many Iraqi artists with local exhibitions and other promotional projects in the past few years, and a handful of galleries in Damascus show Iraqi art. “But a Syrian artist is here in his own country, where everything is in his or her own place,” artist Omar Odeh explains. “We’re here from war.”

Mr. Odeh, who unlike Ismael travels occasionally to Baghdad where his family has returned, hopes the Iraqi government will use growing oil revenues to support displaced Iraqi artists. “Of course, it’s not the first thing our new government is thinking about after security and reconciliation. But if the government for me is like a parent, they should be the first one supporting you. You can trust in yourself if you have your nation,” he says.

Today Odeh works at a busy rate, his paintings hang in galleries in the Old City and even at the new Four Seasons hotel. “It’s not the rule, because some Iraqis succeed in Europe or America. It’s possible for an artist to succeed outside his home during war,” he says. “Look at Picasso and ‘Guernica.’ ”

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