Assad Softens On Iraq & Names Sunni Tribal Chief As Baghdad Envoy.

Assad has distanced himself from violence in Iraq and, for the first time since August 1980, has name an ambassador to Baghdad - Nawaf al-Fares, sworn in last week. A former head of the Ba'th Party in Deir ez-Zour, Fares was governor of Qnaitra from 2002. Earlier, he had been governor of the coastal city of Lattakia. He is a member of the powerful 'Uqaydat tribe straddling Syria and Iraq along the Euphrates River and is the tribe's head in Syria.

Given this standing, Fares is a heavyweight within Iraq's Sunni tribal society and will exert strong influence among Iraq's Sunni Arabs. (The office of ambassador to Iraq has been vacant since ties were suspended as, under orders from Saddam's Sunni/Ba'thist dictatorship, Iraqi troops stormed the Syrian Embassy during a feud between the rival Ba'th branches. His appointment is significant for the troubled Syria-US relations since Washington has been urging Sunni Arab states to back Iraq and send their ambassadors to Baghdad.

Without Syria's support, Iran will lose influence in Lebanon and Palestine and the legitimacy of its involvement in Iraq. Inside and outside the region, there is much speculation that Syria is about to ditch its alliance with Iran. A Kuwaiti newspaper in July quoted a senior Syrian official as saying: Syria was "willing to break free from the Iranians as soon as it gets what it wants. The alliance between Damascus and Tehran can change if peace with Israel is achieved... If the region heads towards peace, other side issues can be tackled as well".

Yet Assad is in no hurry to do that now, fearing that its demands for Golan's return will be ignored if his alliance with Iran is broken too soon. He has learned from his late father, Gen. Hafez al-Assad  that Syria should never pay anything in advance, particularly when dealing with Israel.