Intelligence

Syria, from biblical past to Baathist present

TheStar.com - Syria, from biblical past to Baathist present

Overview: Biblical land's history stretches back to the Stone Age, with evidence of civilization traced to the area around the city of Aleppo, circa 2500 BC.

What is now Syria was once the domain of Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Arameans and more. Its conquerors include Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus II of Persia, Alexander the Great and Pompey the Great, who made the region a Roman province in 64 BC.

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In AD 636, the then-Byzantine territory was conquered by Muslim forces from the south and became part of the Caliphate of Islam.

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Power changed hands several times in various parts of the region from the 9th through the 15th centuries, with Egyptians, Turks, Crusaders and Tamerlane all in the mix.

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Syria became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1516 and began 400 years of relative prosperity and stability.

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After the Ottoman Empire was broken up during World War I, Syria was administered by the French until becoming independent by League of Nations mandate on April 17, 1946.

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In the 1967 Six Day War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel, which still occupies the border area.

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The Baathist party's Hafez Assad ruled from 1970 until his death in 2000, when power passed to his son, Bashar Assad.

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Syria joined U.S.-led coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War against Iraq in 1991.

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Syria is currently withdrawing its troops from Lebanon, where they, and a pervasive Syrian intelligence network, have been ensconced since 1976, ostensibly as peacekeepers.

Population: 18 million, including nearly 414,000 Palestinian refugees. The population is about 90 per cent Arab, 74 per cent Sunni Muslim.

Compiled by Pat McCormick

March 20, 2005 at 08:29 PM in Middle East | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home