In the Lion's Den_ An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle With Syria - Andrew Tabler [64]
Evidence of armed Islamic groups in Syria had been growing since April 2004, when authorities foiled an attack on an abandoned UN building in Mezze, a modern district of Damascus. According to a January 2006 report by Ibrahim Hamidi in Al Hayat, three of the four assailants involved had gone to Iraq to fight US forces in the days before Saddam’s fall. Many observers (including me) and diplomats doubted the authenticity of the attacks, since they happened while Washington was making a decision on how to apply the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act (SAA). If Syria seemed on the edge of the abyss, perhaps Washington wouldn’t strictly implement the sanctions.
Then, in May 2005, the authorities announced that they had broken up a “terrorist cell” in the Damascus neighborhood of Daf al-Shawq. As Syrian TV showed footage of the cell’s arms depot, the state announced that the cell was part of a larger organization, the Munazama jund al-sham l’wahda wa jihad (the Soldiers of Damascus Organization for Unity and Jihad). Subsequent reports indicated that the group was well organized and was distributing propaganda throughout Syria. According to Hamidi’s analysis of the group’s pamphlets, the group sought to “establish an ‘Islamic Emirate’ or ‘caliphate’ in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.”
The following December, security forces attacked a “takfiri cell”—a group that unilaterally declares other Muslims apostates. Members of such groups have been known to inflict their punishment by, among other things, strapping on explosive belts and walking into Western hotels in the region. While the attack got some play in the Syrian media, a Syrian journalist friend told me at the time that the attack was the first instance where the authorities used helicopters against civilians in Syria since the state’s bombardment of Hama in 1982. In his subsequent article, the journalist cited “informed sources” who said that when the security forces surrounded the cell’s hideout, its members refused to give up prior to the government’s air raid. They also accused the security forces of being “infidels.”
To get a handle on this Islamic trend, I visited the offices of Mohammed Habash, a supposedly independent parliamentarian and founder of the Damascus Islamic Studies Center. Unlike most religious figures in Syria, Habash openly spoke about Islam in Syrian political life. The interview was strange from the start. Interviews with prominent Syrians are usually well-managed affairs: office calls are diverted and strong tea or coffee is served to help get people in the mood for candid conversation. It is one of the best things about Syria under Bashar al-Assad: people talk quite openly behind closed doors. So when an unexpected guest showed up for my interview with Habash, it couldn’t be chalked up to mere coincidence.
As I walked into the center’s main salon, a man followed on my heels, shook my hand, and sat down at Habash’s side. The man was well dressed, sported a five-o’clock shadow, and wore a smile from ear to ear. Somewhat unnervingly, he did not say a word. Thirty minutes later, when I asked Habash about his thoughts on the relationship between authoritarianism in the Arab world and the spread of Islamic extremism, I was finally introduced to the mystery guest.
“I have no desire to justify terrorism, but I would like to explain it,” said Habash, who preaches a tolerant version of Islam that he dubs “renewal.” “I agree with you that radical movements began before the invasion of Iraq, but not the occupation of Palestine. Look at Musa here. I have only known him for about a month. He traveled to Iraq with two hundred and ninety others to wage jihad. He was the only one who survived.”
My eyes opened wide. Could Musa really be one of the jihadists that the government denied were crossing from Syria into