The Syrian state has been called both a victim and perpetrator of terrorism. The United States government accuses the government of Syria of sponsoring what some consider terrorism, specifically through its past and current support for such organizations as Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Musa Organization, and the Popular Struggle Front.[1]
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From 1976 to 1982, Sunni Islamists fought the Ba'ath Party-controlled government of Syria in what has been called "long campaign of terror".[2] Islamists attacked both civilians and off-duty military personnel, and civilians were also killed in retaliatory strike by security forces.
The Muslim Brotherhood was blamed for the terror by the government, although the insurgents used names such as Kata'ib Muhammad (Phalanxes of Muhammad, begun in Hama in 1965 Marwan Hadid) to refer to their organization.[3]
Following Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 1976 a number of prominent Syrian officers and government servants, as well as "professional men, doctors, teachers," were assassinated. Most of the victims were Alawis, "which suggested that the assassins had targeted the community" but "no one could be sure who was behind" the killings.[4]
Among the better known victims were:
These assassinations led up to the 16 June 1979 slaughter of cadets at the Aleppo Artillery School. On that day a member of school staff, Captain Ibrahim Yusuf, assembled the cadets in the dining-hall and then let in the gunmen who opened fire on the cadets. According to the official report 32 young men were killed. Unofficial sources say the "death toll was as high as 83."[6] This attack was the work of Tali'a muqatila, or Fighting Vanguard, a Sunni Islamist guerrilla group and spinoff of the Muslim Brotherhood. `Adnan `Uqla, who later became the group's leader, helped plan the massacre.[7]
The cadet massacre "marked the start of full-scale urban warfare" against Alawis, cadre of the ruling Ba'ath party, party offices, "police posts, military vehicles, barracks, factories and any other target the guerrillas could attack." In the city of Aleppo between 1979 and 1981 terrorists killed over 300 people, mainly Ba'thists and Alawis, but also a dozen Islamic clergy who had denounced the murders. Of these the most prominent was Shaykh Muhammad al-Shami, who was slain in his own mosque, the Sulaymaniya, on 2 February 1980.
On 26 June 1980 the president of Syria, Hafez al-Asad, "narrowly escaped death" when attackers threw two grenades and fired machine gun bursts at him as he waited at a diplomatic function in Damascus.[8]
On 17 June 1980 an estimated 1,152 Islamist inmates at the prison in Palmyra were massacred by the alawi-ruled government Defense companies troops. Less than a month later membership in the Muslim Brotherhood became punishable by death with a month grace period given for members to turn themselves in.
Individuals assassinated at this time include:
While the involvement of the Syrian government "was not proved" in these killings, it "was widely suspected."[9]
The insurgency is generally considered to have been crushed by the bloody Hama massacre of 1982, in which thousands of were killed, "the vast majority innocent civilians".[10][11]
On September 28, 2008, at least 17 people been killed and 14 hurt by a car bomb on the outskirts of Syria's capital Damascus. The target of the blast was unclear, but it struck close to an important Shia shrine and a security post.[12]
A little more than year later (3 December 2009) another explosion killed at least three people when a bus blew up in a Damascus suburb. Syrian officials denied terrorism was involved.[13]
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Syria on 21 January 2007 and discussed terrorism in the Middle East and the situation in Iraq. They issued a joint statement condemning "all forms of terrorism plaguing the Iraqi people and their institutions, infrastructure and security service." Assad and Talabani expressed "readiness to work together and do everything possible to eradicate terrorism."[14]
Several groups and individuals have claimed that Syria engages in state sponsored terrorism.
The leaders of many of alleged terrorist groups live in Damascus, including Ramadan Shalah, the Secretary-General of Islamic Jihad; his deputy Ziad Nehaleh; Imad al-Alami, a senior Hamas operative; other leading Palestinians such as Ahmed Jibril, George Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh live in Syria.
The Syrian government itself has been accused of engaging in state sponsored terrorism by President George W. Bush and by the U.S. State Department from 1979 to today.[15] The European Community met on November 10, 1986 to discuss the Hindawi Affair, an attempt to bomb an El Al flight out of London, and the subsequent arrest and trial in the UK of Nizar Hindawi, who allegedly received Syrian government support after the bombing, and possibly beforehand.[16] The European response was to impose sanctions against Syria and state that these measures were intended "to send Syria the clearest possible message that what has happened is absolutely unacceptable."[17]
However, Syria has assisted the United States and other governments in their opposition to al-Qaeda. This include Syria's efforts in stemming the flow of al-Qaeda backed fighters from crossing into Iraq along its border. (Country Reports on Terrorism, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, April 27, 2005).
Numerous assassinations of opponents of Syria and the Syrian government have been alleged to involve the Syrian government. Syria and its supporters claim that no substantial evidence has been produced to prove these allegations.
Success in democratic reform, stability and prosperity in Iraq is likely to have a positive effect on neighboring countries (Syria included).
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