Russia, Iran Await Appointment of Walid Moalem’s Successor

Late Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moalem was laid to rest on Monday. The “soft face” of the regime and the man with the “velvet statements” was one of the regime’s staunchest supporters even as it suppressed a peaceful uprising that devolved into a bloody conflict that has been raging for nearly a decade.

Moalem died as the Assad regime marked 50 years since coming to power through the Corrective Movement. Sine then, Syria has only known three foreign ministers, with Moalem the only one to pass away without defecting from the regime or being removed from his post.

The longtime supporter of the regime passed away after a short fight with cancer. He already had a history of heart problems.

His death coincided with president Bashar Assad’s introduction of political, security and media changes that brought figures he is close with deeper into his inner circle. Among them is journalist Luna al-Shibl, who was appointed “special aide at the presidency.” She will still retain her position as director of press and political bureau.

With Moalem’s passing, attention will now be turned to his successor as Syria remains in the grips of a power struggle between Russia, Iran and other regional and international players. Western diplomats who recently visited Damascus believe that deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad leans close to Iran. Another candidate is Ayman Sousan, the assistant foreign minister, and Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations. Sousan is believed to be close to the Russians, while Jaafari leans more towards Iran.

Moreover, the new foreign minister will have to take on the role of holding talks with western countries and negotiations with Tel Aviv. Moalem was one of the most prominent Syrian negotiators who had held open and covert talks with Israel.

Beginnings
Moalem, who was commonly known in Syria as “Abou Tarik”, was born on July 17, 1941. He went to school in Damascus and Tartus, before enrolling at Cairo University and graduating with a degree in economics in 1963. His return to Damascus later that year coincided with the rise of the Baath party and its ensuing coup.

He joined the diplomatic corps and was appointed to various embassies. He served as ambassador to Romania between 1975 and 1980. Then Foreign Minister Abdul Halim Khaddam was not impressed with him and subsequently sent him off to work at the ministry’s archive department. Moalem used that time to write some books. He would write four throughout his lifetime.

Farouk al-Sharaa replaced Khaddam, who was appointed vice president in 1984. Moalem was then appointed as head of the private offices department, one of the most significant in the ministry.

With the launch of Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations in 1991, he was appointed ambassador to the United States, a post he retained until 1999. During this time, he held and attended a series of secret meetings with Israeli politicians and military figures, impressing the Americans, Europeans and Arab countries.

Then president Hafez Assad recalled him abruptly from Washington, possibly over his exaggeration of claims with the Israelis. For a short while Moalem would be marginalized in Damascus before being appointed aide and then deputy foreign minister. He would oversee efforts aimed at reaching “settlements” in Lebanon. He was among the last Syrian officials to speak to slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri was assassinated in a major car bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005. The murder is widely blamed on Syria, an allegation it has repeatedly denied. In February 2006, Moalem was appointed foreign minister, succeeding Sharaa, who was named vice president, replacing Khaddam who had defected from the regime.

‘Hawks’ and ‘pigeons’
Since becoming foreign minister, Moalem would become known for his “pragmatism” or as a “pigeon” among the “hawks” led by Sharaa. Sharaa in turn had inherited this role from the “brusque Khaddam”.

Moalem was an advocate of establishing relations with the West and Arab countries. He believed in having a “balanced” relationship with Iran. These stances led many opposition figures to believe that Moalem would defect from the regime with the eruption of the 2011 protests.

They were wrong. In fact, Moalem would emerge as one of the staunchest defenders of Damascus. He became the face of the regime, holding regular press conferences and talks with Moscow and Tehran, Damascus’ main allies. He managed to retain his position since then, even amid government reshuffles over the years.

Moalem frequently stressed that Assad would remain in his position “as long as the people wanted it.” He was among the first officials to describe the opponents of the regime as “terrorists” and was one of the fiercest critics of Kurdish fighters for receiving support from Washington.

Throughout his long rambling press conferences, he always described the war in Syria as a “foreign conspiracy.” He was known for his dismissive and mocking attitude of the West that had slapped sanctions on Syria and its officials. He spoke in a soft tone, exuding calm even during the toughest days of the conflict. During the conflict, his foreign trips became limited to Russia, Iran, Muscat and the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The opposition had met Moalem’s statements with criticism and ridicule, once mocking his claims that he wanted to “wipe Europe off the map.”

In August 2011, Washington imposed sanctions on the minister, whom it said was using the excuse of a foreign conspiracy on Syria in order to conceal the terrorist acts of the regime and spread lies. An American official at the time described him as the liaison between Damascus and Tehran. A year later, the Europeans would slap him with their own sanctions for the violent repression of protests in Damascus.

Moalem’s last public appearance was at the opening of an international refugee conference last Wednesday in Damascus, when he appeared to be in ill health. The following day, he did not attend the closing ceremony of the event, which was co-hosted with Russia.

In Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed his condolences, praising Moalem for his “important role” in defending Syria’s national interests and security, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Russian deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov hailed Moalem as a diplomat who “understood the importance of Syrian-Russian relations.”

“We have lost a very reliable partner and sincere friend,” said Bogdanov, who was formerly stationed in Damascus. He stressed that he had been in “almost constant contact” with Moalem in the 35 years he had known him.

Oman, the sole Gulf country to keep diplomatic ties with Syria, offered its condolences to Syria, as did Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

In the Mazzeh 86 neighborhood, west of the Syrian capital Damascus, the names of many shops, grocery stores, and public squares still serve as a reminder of the era of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late father, Hafez al-Assad.

This is evident in landmarks like the “Al-Hafez Restaurant,” one of the prominent features of this area. Squares such as “Al-Areen,” “Officers,” and “Bride of the Mountain” evoke memories of the buildings surrounding them, which once housed influential officials and high-ranking officers in intelligence and security agencies. These individuals instilled fear in Syrians for five decades until their historic escape on the night of the regime’s collapse last month.

In this neighborhood, the effects of Israeli bombing are clearly visible, as it was targeted multiple times. Meanwhile, its narrow streets and alleys were strewn with military uniforms abandoned by leaders who fled before military operations arrived and liberated the area from their grip on December 8 of last year.

Here, stark contradictions come to light during a tour by Asharq Al-Awsat in a district that, until recently, was largely loyal to the former president. Muaz, a 42-year-old resident of the area, recounts how most officers and security personnel shed their military uniforms and discarded them in the streets on the night of Assad’s escape.

He said: “Many of them brought down their weapons and military ranks in the streets and fled to their hometowns along the Syrian coast.”

Administratively part of Damascus, Mazzeh 86 consists of concrete blocks randomly built between the Mazzeh Western Villas area, the Mazzeh Highway, and the well-known Sheikh Saad commercial district. Its ownership originally belonged to the residents of the Mazzeh area in Damascus. The region was once agricultural land and rocky mountain terrain. The peaks extending toward Mount Qasioun were previously seized by the Ministry of Defense, which instructed security and army personnel to build homes there without requiring property ownership documents.

Suleiman, a 30-year-old shop owner, who sells white meat and chicken, hails from the city of Jableh in the coastal province of Latakia. His father moved to this neighborhood in the 1970s to work as an army assistant.

Suleiman says he hears the sound of gunfire every evening, while General Security patrols roam the streets “searching for remnants of the former regime and wanted individuals who refuse to surrender their weapons. We fear reprisals and just want to live in peace.”

He mentioned that prices before December 8 were exorbitant and beyond the purchasing power of Syrians, with the price of a kilogram of chicken exceeding 60,000 Syrian pounds and a carton of eggs reaching 75,000.

“A single egg was sold for 2,500 pounds, which is far beyond the purchasing power of any employee in the public or private sector,” due to low salaries and the deteriorating living conditions across the country,” Suleiman added.

On the sides of the roads, pictures of the fugitive president and his father, Hafez al-Assad, were torn down, while military vehicles were parked, awaiting instructions.

Maram, 46, who previously worked as a civilian employee in the Ministry of Defense, says she is waiting for the resolution of employment statuses for workers in army institutions. She stated: “So far, there are no instructions regarding our situation. The army forces and security personnel have been given the opportunity for settlement, but there is no talk about us.”

The neighborhood, in its current form, dates back to the 1980s when Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of former President Hafez al-Assad, was allowed to construct the “Defense Palace,” which was referred to as “Brigade 86.” Its location is the same area now known as Mazzeh Jabal 86.

The area is divided into two parts: Mazzeh Madrasa (School) and Mazzeh Khazan (Tank). The first takes its name from the first school built and opened in the area, while the second is named after the water tank that supplies the entire Mazzeh region.

Two sources from the Mazzeh Municipality and the Mukhtar’s office estimate the neighborhood’s current population at approximately 200,000, down from over 300,000 before Assad’s fall. Most residents originate from Syria’s coastal regions, followed by those from interior provinces like Homs and Hama. There was also a portion of Kurds who had moved from the Jazira region in northeastern Syria to live there, but most returned to their areas due to the security grip and after the “Crisis Cell” bombing that killed senior security officials in mid-2012.

Along the main street connecting Al-Huda Square to Al-Sahla Pharmacy, torn images of President Hafez al-Assad are visible for the first time in this area in five decades. On balconies and walls, traces of Bashar al-Assad’s posters remain, bearing witness to his 24-year era.

Russia, Iran Await Appointment of Walid Moalem’s Successor