WHAT HAPPENS IN SYRIA

According to a western diplomat an atmosphere of fin de regime prevail ed in Damascus around last New Year. There were several and complex re asons: Syria feels isolated from the West, and particularly from the U SA; Israel has managed to break the common Arab line followed during t he peace negotiations in Madrid by signing separate agreements with PL O and later with Jordan. After Likud came to power in Israel again, th e negotiations between Syria and Israel have reached their lowest poin t; Syria is reclaiming a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Height s; the relations with the neighbouring countries - except Lebanon - ar e strained, and the agreement on military cooperation between Israel a nd Turkey is causing unrest; in the wake of this agreement a timid rap prochement with Iraq seems to lake place. On the interior level the sa me period was characterized by terror incidents, tension in President al-Assad's family and the president's failing health; this has led to concern and to the question about what will happen when President Hafi z al-Assad's long reign one day comes to an end.