Syria's Ba'thists Encourage Converting Sunnis Into Shi'ism - Angering Neighbours.

*** Saudis Welcome Bush's July 16 Offer Of Int'l Middle East Peace Conference In The Autumn Of '07 To Focus On A Palestinian State - A Meet To Be Attended By The PA Of Fatah Leader Abbas, Israel And The Arab Allies Of The US Who Have Kept A Distance From The Iran-Led Axis; Assad, Starting His 2nd 7-Year Term As 'Self-Appointed' President, On July 17 Put Conditions On Having Talks With An Israel Led By A Govt. Still Too Weak To Bail Its Assertive Syrian Counterpart Out Of Its Isolation

*** Significantly, Assad Avoided Any Mention Of Lebanon; But It Is Widely Known In Beirut That He Wants The UN Court In The Hariri Case Out

BEIRUT - The Ba'thist regime of Damascus, part of an Iran-led axis of forces opposed to "US hegemony", is turning a blind eye to "at-tashayo'", a process of converting Sunni Muslims and others to Ja'fari Shi'ism being carried out by representatives of Tehran's Shi'ite theocracy. The process has angered Sunni Arab regimes, notably including those of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, who have accused Damascus of secretly encouraging at-tashayo' - or Shi'itisation. It is alleged that many Sunnis in the Arab world, especially in Syria, have converted into Shi'ism.

The Shi'itisation process was escalated after the July/August 2006 war between Lebanon's Iran-sponsored Shi'ite guerrilla movement Hizbullah and Israel. Hizbullah claimed "divine victory" over Israel in the 34-day war which, it said, shattered the myth of Israel's invincibility and restored Arab pride. This, combined with the martial discipline of Hizbullah, may have got Sunni Arab admirers to convert into Ja'fari (Twelver) Shi'ism.

The Arab media claim that Iran, through its embassies and charities, have lured poor Sunnis into Ja'fari Shi'ism by offering them money, housing or cars as well as jobs in Iran-financed firms. Syria is said to be the main country where the process has been progressing since last autumn. But the process has been a failure.

The main communities being targeted by the Iranians in Syria are Sunni Syrians of the lower middle-class and Iraqi refugees. There are now as many as 1.4m Iraqi refugees living in Syria. Many of them are Sunnis; but they also include members of Iraq's Christian minorities - such as the Chaldeans, Assyrians and Armenians. Some of the latter are said to have been converted into Ja'fari Shi'ism because, as refugees, they had no jobs and could no longer provide for their families.

There are said to have been such conversions in Iraq and in some of the Arab countries in the Gulf. At the same time, the theocracy has helped spread "al-thawaj bil-mut'ah" (temporary marriage for sexual enjoyment) between Shi'ite males and females - the latter being widows or divorcees. This has spread wildly in Iraq, where mullahs sanctioning such fleeting alliances now are based in the holy Shi'ite centres of Karbala' and Baghdad's Kathemiya.

For several months, Sunni Arab religious imams have condemned the Shi'itisation process. Prominent among them are Wahhabi scholars in Saudi Arabia. Some of them have demanded a public apology to the Sunni world by the Shi'ite theocracy, as in the case of Qatar-based Shaikh Yousef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian religious authority who often appears on a programme on Muslim religious matters run by al-Jazeera - a Qatari-financed pan-Arab TV channel. Others include Shaikh Salman al-Oudah, a prominent Wahhabi preacher in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Wahbah al-Zuhaili, professor of Shari'a (Islamic law) and religious fundamentals at the Syrian University and a well-known thinker, has called Iran's Shi'itisation process "an aggression" against the Sunni world.

The sectarian situation in and around Syria, however, has become increasingly complicated because of what is happening in Iraq. The US has accused both Iran and Syria of having helped Shi'ite and Sunni militants fight American forces in Iraq. The Shi'ite regime of Iran, despite being a Ja'fari theocracy, has been accused of backing even Neo-Salafi groups in Iraq against the US presence, as Assad's regime has done (see rim1-IraqTacklingNeo-SalafisJul23-07).

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad on July 19 told reporters in Damascus he was looking forward to "a season of heat" during which the Tehran-led axis will defeat the US and its allies, as Hizbullah in the 2006 war defeated Israel and the powers behind the Jewish state. Winding up a day's visit to Damascus at a news conference held jointly with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , Ahmadi-Nejad was answering a question whether Iran faced a hot summer. In Damascus Ahmadi-Nejad also met with the leaders of Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are part of the Tehran-led axis.

The paradox is that the Syrian regime is Ba'thist, i.e., secular. But this is only the visible layer of authority represented by a Ba'thist government. The invisible layer is dominated by the ruling few of the 'Alawite community, a minority accounting for about 9% of the Syrian population. The invisible layer is sectarian, which makes Syria's regime an 'Alawite/Ba'thist dictatorship now tied to the Shi'ite theocracy of Iran. Its indirect encouragement of Shi'itisation in Syria is understandable from the 'Alawite context.

Iran's theocracy is the only Shi'ite state in a Sunni-dominated Muslim world. The Shi'ites only account for about 10% of this world's population of almost 1.5 bn. But the Shi'itisation process has very limited prospects and is in no way likely to have an impact on the balance of power in the Muslim world.

Although President Assad is Sunni - his late father Gen. Hafez converted from 'Alawism to become president of Syria after his military coup d'etat against the civilian wing of the ruling Ba'th Party - his orientations are pro-Shi'ite. But the Assads, from the village of Qerdaha, are said to be unpopular in Syria's 'Alawite community. Their 'Alawite critics accuse them of corruption.

'Alawism is a branch of Shi'ism established in the third century of the Muslim calendar (Hijrah) as a result of splits among the Shi'ites. This sect was named Nusairi, after its founder 'Abu Shou'aib Muhammad bin Nusair al-Basri al-Numairi, who died in 270 AH (884 AD).

The Nusairis have occasionally been close to the Ja'fari Shi'ites. This is because, like the latter, the Nusairis believe in the "hidden imam" al-Mahdi. Based on what is known to the Ja'fari cult as disappearance of the 12th Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, bin Nussair claimed that he represented "the door to the tunnel" leading to Imam al-Hassan al-'Askari, the 11th imam of the same series. He later claimed to be a prophet, a claim pursued by his successors who added numerous other teachings to his movement.