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'Arab hero' Chavez to visit fellow US-foe Syria
SANA
President Bashar al-Assad (right) with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (left) at the Damascus airport.By Roueida Mabardi
AFP
DAMASCUS
Petroleumworld.com 08 30 06
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez begins a two-day visit to fellow US arch-foe Syria Wednesday, hailed locally as an Arab hero and hoping to consolidate relations between the two countries.
Talks between Chavez and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- both persistent thorns in Washington's side -- will focus on "the regional situation and bilateral relations", a Syrian official told AFP, describing the populist Chavez's positions on Syria and the Middle East as "very positive".
Chavez was a fierce critic of Israel's month-long offensive in Lebanon and has found common ground with Syria, which has irked the West with its declarations of support for Hezbollah Shiite militants in Lebanon.
Flamboyant former paratrooper Chavez will arrive from China, where last week he denounced Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon as "genocide," likening its action to war crimes committed by Adolf Hitler.
His trip to Damascus follows a visit by Venezuela's deputy foreign minister to Syria earlier this month.
The arrival of Chavez, who staged a failed coup in 1992 before being elected president in 2002, provides "support for Syria's positions on the Israeli-Arab conflict and Lebanon," said Elias Murad, editor of the official Baath daily.
Caracas and Damascus both "reject" pressures from Washington, but for different reasons, Murad told AFP, as the US wants to "overthrow" Chavez and "surround" Syria by supporting anti-regime elements, in particular Israel.
Chavez has accused Washington of being behind a failed 2002 coup against him. Washington, in turn, openly supports Syrian opposition figures, as well as Israel, which has occupied Syria's Golan Heights since winning the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
"The Venezuelan president's popularity on the Arab street ... is as great as in his country where he is working to reinforce its independence and preserve its national interests," the government daily Tishrin wrote.
In a story headlined "Chavez, America's enemy number one, international leader and the biggest supporter of Arab causes", Tishrin described Chavez as a hero in the Arab world following his criticism of Israel.
The Syrian communist party earlier this month urged Arab governments to copy Venezuela, which denounced US support for Israel's military campaign in Lebanon and withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv.
Hundreds of Venezuelans fled Israel's 34-day bombardment of Lebanon and sought refuge at their embassy in Damascus, in front of which a pro-Lebanon demonstration on August 11 ended with cries of support for Chavez.
Syria kept its head down during the war in Lebanon but has since made triumphalist declarations. It has been increasingly marginalised by the West since regime officials were implicated in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.
Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal recently visited key Venezuelan ally Cuba where provisional leader Raul Castro said his brother, Fidel, was determined Assad should attend a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana in September.
Raul Castro "repeated Cuba's support for the Syrian people in the face of aggression and hostility from Tel Aviv," the official Cuban daily Granma reported Tuesday.
AFP 29 1354 GMT 08 06
Copyright ©Agence France Presse. All Rights Reserved.
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