The Times of India, May 17, 2001.
DAMASCUS: Cuba's Fidel Castro took time off on Wednesday to visit one of most revered mosques in Islam as state-run media suggested the communist leader may have found a soul mate in Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Castro arrived in Syria on Tuesday on the fifth stop of a tour intended to bolster ties with new and old allies in the Middle East and Asia and to search for cheap supplies of energy. He has visited Algeria, Iran, Malaysia and Qatar, all oil producers.
He was scheduled to leave Syria on Wednesday and his next stop was expected to be oil-rich Libya, according to unconfirmed reports in the Arab media.
Castro spent Wednesday morning touring parts of the Syrian capital's ancient quarter. Wearing his trademark olive-green military fatigues, he spent about 30 minutes in the Omayyad Mosque, a sprawling complex that houses a tomb believed to contain the head of St. John the Baptist.
The complex is also home to the tomb of Saladin, a medieval Muslim ruler whose battles against the Crusaders in the 12th century earned him a prominent place in Arab history.
At the end of the tour, a smiling Castro kissed each of the four Muslim clergymen who had accompanied him and waved to the hundreds of cheering onlookers gathered outside the mosque.
He then met Assad for another round of talks over lunch, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency. It gave no details.
This is Castro's first ever visit to Syria, although the 74-year-old Cuban leader met several times on the sidelines of international gatherings with President Assad's father, the late Syrian leader Hafez Assad. The elder Assad died 11 months ago and was succeeded by his son Bashar, a
35-year-old former eye doctor whose youth and scientific background won him the affection of Syrians.
Despite an age gap of nearly 40 years, the two leaders appeared relaxed in each other's company Tuesday. They hugged at Damascus airport and laughed together over dinner at the hilltop People's Palace. Assad, as shown in footage on state television, appeared at one point to be light heartedly
explaining to his bemused guest some of the subtleties of Syrian cuisine.
The two men spoke through an interpreter and the dinner appeared to be a largely informal affair. Syria's official media made no mention of whether the two leaders gave speeches before the meal.
Like Cuba, Syria is on the U.S. State Department list of countries sponsoring terrorism, a fact that has not stopped Damascus and Washington from maintaining full diplomatic relations.
Also like Cuba, Syria is a harsh critic of U.S. policies, particularly what it sees as Washington's strong bias in favor of Israel, Damascus' archenemy for more than half a century.
"Syria and Cuba are bound by their struggles," said the Syrian daily Tishrin in a front page editorial. "Syria is the heart of the Arab nation ... while Cuba is an example to be followed in the struggle for independence, freedom and socialism.
"President Castro will find in President Assad a loyal friend and a fighter who is committed to the struggles of peoples and their liberation," the state-run paper added. (AP) | 