SYRIA - The Siege Mentality.

Nevertheless, this proved that Assad's regime had a major role in the anti-US insurgency in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, whereas in the past Damascus had persistently denied having anything to do in Iraq. At the same time, however, the regime has been showing signs of a siege mentality. In recent weeks, it has cracked down on hard-won concessions, censoring publications more heavily and increasing pressure on opposition figures.

Syrian university professors have been given directives not to discuss subjects like Lebanon, the Kurdish minority or Hariri. People in Damascus expect worse to come. Assad, like his father, has tried to deal with his problems by closing ranks within his regime while scrambling to buy time. But so far, according to many Syrians, Assad has proved less adept than his father at playing political cat-and-mouse. "We are in the corner now", said Youssef Marish, the publisher of Al Mobky, a weekly Syrian review of culture and arts whose most recent issue was blocked by Damascus censors for being too critical regarding current events. "The problem is that pressure will never stop, not even when we leave Lebanon".

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published on Feb. 28, Assad said the US might be preparing for military action against Syria. "Washington has imposed sanctions on us and isolated us in the past, but each time the circle hasn't closed around us", he said. "If, however, you ask me if I'm expecting an armed attack, well, I've seen it coming since the end of the war in Iraq". A Syrian official later denied that Assad had made the comments. The regime's losing choices are exemplified by conflicting reports on Feb. 27 that Iraqi officials had credited Syria with help in handing over Sab'awi and 29 others.