Epstein Secrets

y to American interests, he firmly believes Lebanon should be within Syria's sphere of influence, and he is a member of a minority Islamic sect, the Alawites, that has had a chokehold on power in Syria for decades. In 2004 and 2005, while writing a book on him, I had long interviews with Mr. Assad; after

ria less than two month ago. Assad has deliberately avoided making any public pronouncements so far, leaving those mostly to his pro-reform adviser Bouthaina Shaaban. She said last week that Assad would repeal Syria's emergency law, end the Baath Party's monopoly on power, reform the judiciary and combat the corr

to American interests, he firmly believes Lebanon should be within Syria's sphere of influence, and he is a member of a minority Islamic sect, the Alawites, that has had a chokehold on power in Syria for decades. SONY_GM_00078425 JPM-SDNY-00001552 EFTA_00188892 Confidential Treatment Requested by JP

y in particular, as ordinary Syrians celebrated what seemed to be the end of a crisis that had gripped the nation for a week. Presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban gave a press conference at 6 pm on Thursday evening, in response to violent demonstrations in the southern town of Daraa near the border with Jorda

ernizing Shah. The Syrian government has no such psychic resources. It is held together in its presidential family and its top military echelons by Alawites-a religious minority that may be characterized as Shi'ite or syncretist, depending on who is articulating its beliefs. And those Alawite leaders h

member. A timeline of opposition in Syria bulges with religious contention and brutal repression, but not with female heroes. The government uses Bouthaina Shaaban, a British- educated scholar of Arab women and literature, to reach out to old oppositionists while young ones are disinclined to talk. Who will pr