The news that the British are once again putting out feelers to Syria is intriguing. The Brits have long held out hopes that Assad might prove a voice for moderation in the Middle East – and that he might be particularly receptive to overtures from the UK. After all, he trained in British medical schools and his wife was born in London and worked as an investment banker here.
As it happens, my brother-in-law was on the same training course as Bashar at a major London eye hospital in the early 1990s. Bashar’s name and face are pretty recognisable to anyone with an interest in Middle Eastern politics. So, after some hesitation, my brother-in-law and a Lebanese pal wandered over to him in the canteen and asked Bashar if was by any chance related to the Hafez al-Assad, the president of Syria. Bashar denied it point blank and returned to eating whatever slop they were serving in NHS canteens at the time.
The news that the British are once again putting out feelers to Syria is intriguing. The Brits have long held out hopes that Assad might prove a voice for moderation in the Middle East – and that he might be particularly receptive to overtures from the UK. After all, he trained in British medical schools and his wife was born in London and worked as an investment banker here.
As it happens, my brother-in-law was on the same training course as Bashar at a major London eye hospital in the early 1990s. Bashar’s name and face are pretty recognisable to anyone with an interest in Middle Eastern politics. So, after some hesitation, my brother-in-law and a Lebanese pal wandered over to him in the canteen and asked Bashar if was by any chance related to the Hafez al-Assad, the president of Syria. Bashar denied it point blank and returned to eating whatever slop they were serving in NHS canteens at the time.
Bashar’s ascent to the Syrian presidency was something of an accident. Rather like Rajiv Gandhi, he only became heir apparent when an older, more favoured brother was killed in an accident. All the same, Bashar’s willingness to put up with the demanding and unglamorous grind of medical training (not to mention NHS food) certainly shows a certain patience and humility. It is not the kind of thing that one could imagine Uday Hussein bothering with.
But given his international experience and obvious intelligence, Bashar’s unwillingness to embark on more serious reforms has been a huge disappointment. There was a brief “Damascus Spring”, but it is now a distant memory.
Still, the British are obviously willing to try again. This new effort may be connected to Tony Blair’s hopes of leaving some sort of legacy before he steps down from office. Blair has singled out Middle East peace as an area he is particularly interested in (aren’t we all). The choice of emissary is also an interesting one. Sir Nigel Sheinwald’s main job in Downing Street is to handle transatlantic relations and he is in regular contact with Condi Rice and Steve Hadley, the head of the National Security Council. Given that one of the ideas currently floating around Washington – as the search for a way out of the Iraqi morass continues – is the notion of beginning to talk to Syria, Sir Nigel is well-placed to put out feelers.
And what do the Israelis thinks of all this? Shimon Peres, Israel’s deputy prime minister (now 83-years-old) gave a press breakfast at Claridge’s Hotel in London this morning, which I went along to. Peres, perhaps unsurprisingly, pronounced himself “sceptical” of these new contacts – “not because of Britain, but because of Syria.” In a rather curious metaphor, he compared Syrian rhetoric to “one of those old British bathrooms, where you have a hot tap and a cold tap, and you can never get the two to mix properly.” Presumably, they’ve now fixed that problem at Claridge’s.
For views and opinions on the European Union from Peter Spiegel, Joshua Chaffin, Alex Barker and Stanley Pignal, follow the 