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Syria's Secular Regime Attempts to Ride a Religious Revival

(Financial Times-UK) Roula Khalaf - "They're like someone who has had a big surgical operation, which might have been fatal, but he didn't die." Yassin Haj Saleh, a Syrian writer and dissident, is describing his country's Ba'athist government. "But now he has to be extremely cautious about his health and he's holding on to life very tightly." Tellingly, the patient has also turned to religion. A new Islamic fervor is abroad in Syria as the regime abandons what was a fiercely secular identity. President Bashar Assad prays more visibly and made a special appearance at a commemoration in Damascus last month of the Prophet Mohammed's birthday. Assad recently appointed as vice-president Najah al-Attar, the former culture minister: her brother was a Muslim Brotherhood leader in exile. The regime also allowed demonstrations in defense of the prophet to get out of hand - mobs torched the Norwegian and Danish embassies in Damascus in February. "Every time they [the regime] feel squeezed, they try to flirt with Islamic symbols," says Haj Saleh. "They attempt to give an Islamic legitimacy to the regime." Some analysts in Damascus warn that playing the religious card could backfire on the regime, making the ground more fertile for Islamist parties.
2006-05-12 00:00:00
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