Syria has a history of supporting militant Palestinian factions, but some say it uses them as pawns, Bassel Oudat writes from Damascus Syrian-Palestinian relations suffered during the 1970s and 1990s, first because of the Lebanese civil war and then because of the Oslo Accords. Once the Palestine Liberation Organisation initiated its policy of "independent Palestinian decision-making", many Palestinians took that as a message for Syria to stay out of Palestinian affairs. Syrian-Palestinian relations turned chilly after the Palestinians and the Israelis signed a self-government agreement in Oslo in 1993. Damascus portrayed the move as a stab in the back of Arab solidarity, a blow to the integrity of the Arab negotiating position. Since the Madrid Conference of 1991, Syria and some Palestinian factions agreed that collective Arab negotiations with Israel were preferable to one-track talks. The Damascus-based groups, in particular, saw eye to eye with Syria on all matters concerning negotiations -- prompting speculation that Syria was using them as a bargaining chip. Tensions abated in 2000 when Yasser Arafat attended the funeral of the late president Hafez Al-Assad in Damascus. A year later, President Bashar Al-Assad met Arafat on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Amman. In 2003, many Palestinian officials visited Syria in an attempt to revive relations and were given a warm reception by the Syrians. Following the 9/11 attacks, the US made a list of alleged terror organisations, including Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PLFP-GC). In August 2003, the US Treasury decided to freeze the assets of six Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal and Moussa Abu Marzouq, who both lived in Damascus. The US administration warned Syria in June 2002 that it would come under sanctions unless it closed down the offices of "extremist" Palestinian organisations in Damascus. The Damascus-based groups were engaged in recruiting, training, financing, and plotting attacks against Israel, US officials said. Washington also accused Syria of training Palestinian fighters in camps near Damascus. Syrian officials denied everything, saying that only Palestinian media offices existed in Damascus. In fact, several Palestinian organisations are based in Damascus, especially the 10 groups that opposed the PLO since the Madrid Conference of 1991: Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the PFLP-GC, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah Al-Intifada), the Palestinian Liberation Front, the Popular Liberation Brigades (Al-Saeqah), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian People's Struggle Front and the Palestinian Revolutionary Communist Parties. After the US warning, some Palestinian leaders, especially those of Hamas, left Syria. But in November 2003, US officials claimed that Syria had failed to restrain Palestinian groups and that the latter were planning "terrorist acts" out of Damascus. Washington claimed that Syria facilitated the delivery of hardware to Hamas, using a freight plane formerly used in relief operations in Iran. In early 2004, Damascus responded, saying that it asked Palestinian groups operating in Syria to stop their media and political activities. Syrian officials told Palestinian leaders to keep a low profile, and occasionally limited their movement. Weeks later, Palestinian groups residing in Syria denied that Syria had pressured them or closed their offices, saying that they were still operating as usual. In January 2005, Mahmoud Abbas, then Fatah candidate in the presidential elections, went to Syria in his first visit since 1996. When Abbas won the elections, Al-Assad congratulated him. The Syrian rapprochement with the official Palestinian Authority (PA) was generally seen as an answer to Washington. Syria was telling US officials that it was talking to all the Palestinians, not just the hardliners. Before June 2003, Fatah offices in Damascus had been closed for 20 years. Nonetheless, Damascus has very close ties with Hamas, although the latter is part of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group banned in Syria. Following Hamas's electoral victory, Al-Assad received Mashaal and congratulated him on the "free and fair" elections. In return, Mashaal said that Syria was "the happiest country" to see Hamas win, adding that the elections victory "broke the chains" that kept Damascus down. In April 2006, Iran's Hashemi Rafsanjani met in Damascus with Mashaal and Ramadan Shallah of the Islamic Jihad and promised them further backing. Soon afterward, Al-Assad said that Syria was ending the blockade on the Hamas government. He also called on all Syrians to start donating money to the Palestinian people. Al-Assad then played host to Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, foreign minister of the dismissed Hamas government, a man whom Jordan and Egypt had refused to receive. It was said then that Hamas, Syria, Iran and several Palestinian groups had a plan to bring down the PA. In October 2006, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a report saying that the Syrians were training Hamas operatives, but making sure not to get directly involved in Hamas operations. Meanwhile, Hamas leaders have often been accused of being Syria's lackeys. Palestinian and Arab officials maintain that Syria and Iran back the policies of Hamas in order to send a message to Washington: antagonise us at your own risk!
