An Interview with Hafez Assad

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Despite frequent accusations in the West--and the Hindawi trial in London--Syria has consistently denied links to international terrorism. President Hafez Assad firmly reiterated that denial in an interview in Damascus with a group of TIME journalists, including Time Inc. Editor in Chief Henry Grunwald, Assistant Managing Editor Richard Duncan, International Editor Karsten Prager and Middle East Bureau Chief Dean Fischer. Assad not only rejected allegations of a Syrian terror connection but as usual accused Israel of terrorist activity and of being responsible for Middle East tensions in general. Though he offered no evidence, Assad broached his own elaborate theory of an Israeli plot in the London El Al incident. Assad, 56, who suffered a serious heart ailment three years ago, appeared in sound health and full of confidence; no question, he said, would embarrass him. During a four-hour conversation, his words on terrorism and regional tensions were occasionally leavened by banter. At one point, in discussing Soviet-U.S. relations, Assad suggested that only an extraterrestrial power could make peace between the superpowers. He then went on, unexpectedly, to speak of his long-standing interest in UFOs, or unidentified flying objects, which he takes quite seriously. Excerpts from the interview:

Q. Mr. President, Syria has been accused of participating in terrorist activities and of helping terrorist groups. What is your response?

A. The accusations do not worry us because they do not represent the truth. Certain persons in the U.S. are leading this campaign. We believe the accusations do not represent a purely American will but a Zionist-Israeli will. If the matter were purely American, accusations would not have been directed at Syria, which has helped save Americans from possible death. Indeed, there would have been at least one accusation against Israel in terms of its own long history of terrorism. In 1948 Israel assassinated Count [Folke] Bernadotte, a Swedish citizen authorized by the U.N. to help reach a peaceful solution in Palestine. Israel committed a hijacking in 1954, seizing a Syrian civilian plane. Also in 1954 Israel engaged in subversive acts in Egypt, in the so-called Lavon scandal. [A reference to Israeli attacks on Western targets in Egypt. The strikes were made to appear as Egyptian terrorism in order to sour Egyptian-Western relations during sensitive negotiations on the withdrawal of British troops from the Suez Canal.] In 1973 Israel shot down a Libyan Boeing 727, causing the deaths of more than 100 civilian passengers . . . Last February, Israel hijacked a Libyan plane carrying a Syrian political delegation. These are some of the acts of terrorism committed by Israel.[*] Did the U.S. place Israel on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism?

Q. Do you want to reply to accusations of terrorism by merely charging that the other side commits similar acts? Why do you permit [the suspected terrorist] Abu Nidal to operate from Syria? Why don't you do something about the camps in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley from which some of the terrorist operations are launched?