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Episode 3: Chirac Asked Assad to Disarm Hezbollah In Exchange for Maintaining Presence In Lebanon

Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and French President Jacques Chirac in Paris on July 16, 1998 (Getty)
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and French President Jacques Chirac in Paris on July 16, 1998 (Getty)
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Episode 3: Chirac Asked Assad to Disarm Hezbollah In Exchange for Maintaining Presence In Lebanon

Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and French President Jacques Chirac in Paris on July 16, 1998 (Getty)
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and French President Jacques Chirac in Paris on July 16, 1998 (Getty)

Asharq Al-Awsat reveals messages exchanged between then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in the mid-1990s, which are part of the many documents that late Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam carried from his office to Paris when he left Syria in 2005.

In 1996, Assad decided to dispatch Khaddam to Paris to meet with French President Jacques Chirac and inform him of the decision to re-open the Syrian-Iraqi borders closed since 1982.

In fact, Assad wanted to coordinate with Chirac to mitigate any violent US reaction to the attempt to break Saddam Hussein’s “isolation.”

He was also seeking to gain the French president’s trust, after succeeding in putting pressure on the US to include France in the arrangements for the monitoring of the “April Understanding”, which was concluded in 1996 following the Israeli Grapes of Wrath war in Lebanon.

Chirac met with Khaddam on July 31, 1996. According to the minutes of the meeting, the Syrian president sought to inform his French counterpart that the situation in Iraq was worrying – “a bomb about to explode” - and that reopening the borders “stop on any new adventures by the Iraqi regime.”

The French president, who wanted to keep the content of the meeting confidential, surprised Khaddam by opening another file that falls within Assad’s priorities: the Syrian military presence in Lebanon and the possibility of starting negotiations with the new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On July 7, 1996, Khaddam recommended that Assad send an envoy to France, carrying a letter to Chirac to explain Damascus’ position. Assad agreed and Chirac received the Syrian vice president on July 31.

According to the minutes of the meeting, Khaddam told the French president: “The subject that Mr. President assigned me to convey is related to Iraq. President Chirac knows that there are old rivalries between us since the 1960s. We have borne a great deal of harm from Iraq and we have objected to the unwise policy, both in the war against Iran (1980-1988) and then in the invasion of Kuwait (1990).”

He continued: “In fact, the situation in Iraq is now worrying. It is a bomb that threatens to explode in the region due to the embargo imposed on the country. Therefore, Syria took an approach to open the borders with Iraq, which have been closed since 1982. Of course, such a move will be within the framework of Security Council resolutions. You know that the international borders between Iraq and Jordan are open, the borders with Turkey are open, so with Iran.”

Khaddam detailed the reasons behind the approach envisaged by Damascus, saying: “First, the great sufferings of the Iraqi people. The second matter is the ongoing work by outside parties to cause fighting, a civil war among some segments of the Iraqi people. If such war erupts, it will blow up the whole region.”

He added: “Third, we believe that a new and realistic atmosphere for relations between the two countries would stop the Iraqi government from taking any action that undermines security and stability in the region […] Our step curbs Saddam’s adventures.”

Chirac replied: “I need not say that for me this is good news. I am making the same analysis about the risks of this embargo. France has worked a lot at the United Nations to take a step forward with Resolution 986. Of course, one can judge as he likes the grave responsibilities, which are Saddam’s responsibilities, for what happened. But no one wants to push the Iraqi people, given their situation, to a movement that could explode the entire region. The return to normalcy between Syria and Iraq is very good news.”

The French president went on to say, according to the minutes of the meeting: “I very much welcome this decision, because it is very important for the stability in the region. Of course, neither America nor Israel may appreciate this very much, but France fully agrees with it.”

He continued: “We want to participate in the peace process, and no peace process is possible without Syria. Please be confident that France will not take any position, especially regarding the peace process, that could upset Syria […] I say this because I had a long call with Netanyahu upon his request, and he said that he would also call this week. I found him relatively more flexible than he was 10 or 15 days ago when he was in America […]He did not change his position on the principle of land for peace, but he did not say anything about the Golan. We believe that it is necessary to negotiate the Golan. He confirmed his desire to return to the peace process with Syria and Lebanon, but without saying anything about any preparations he might make.”

Chirac also said, according to the minutes of the meeting: “If the Israeli army withdraws from southern Lebanon, this assumes that the Lebanese army will take over the guarantee of the entire border. France has said that it is ready to put observers, but on the other hand, this means disarming Hezbollah, and this is of course a matter that is related to Syria and concerns it. Syria, cannot accept this for free. The question is: What is the reward? For example, withdrawing from the Golan and ensuring its military presence in Lebanon for some time after the operation? And if I say so, for two reasons:

1 - France will only act after consulting with Syria. We are keen on Lebanon and its independence, as well as the special ties between Lebanon and Syria, and we will not do anything against Syria’s interests.

2- The Israelis always try to contact those who can help them, but in the end, they make their own decisions and do not care of what others think […] Of course, we will not dictate their behavior, but what we must say is that withdrawal is not excluded.”

Khaddam said that he thanked the French president for the information and France’s stance towards Syria, adding: “In our opinion, Netanyahu is making a maneuver. In Lebanon, he does not want to withdraw according to Resolution 425. Withdrawal according to Resolution 425 is not a problem for us. The state there will carry out its tasks and assume its responsibilities. But he wants to kill two birds with one stone. He wants to sabotage the relations inside Lebanon and between the Lebanese factions. He also wants to create a rift between Syria and Lebanon.”

Here, President Chirac said: “There is an element that must be taken into account. I met Netanyahu before he came to power […] The idea I had of him at the time was that he was intelligent, young and ambitious, but not a man of convictions. The problem is that it is poorly surrounded. Some military men want and seek revenge, and religious people on the other hand, but he is young and ambitious and wants to stay in power as long as possible. Since he is intelligent, he knows that he cannot remain in the future unless he seeks peace, for a man of war is a man of the past, and a man of peace is a man of the future […] The only place where he can act is Lebanon. Lebanon costs him a lot without giving him anything. I fear that one day he will take an initiative that upsets Syria, Lebanon, and everyone else. Therefore, I say that this possibility must remain, so as not to be surprised by it.”

Khaddam replied: “Suppose we wake up one morning and see that Israel has withdrawn from the South. Trust me, no one will cry about it. But this should not be done in the context of negotiations or in a separate peace.”

Chirac answered: “They know it well, but the problem is that you wake up in the morning and see that the Israelis are gone.”

“Then we shall drink to them,” the Syrian vice president said.

Chirac asked: “But what happens later?”

“Nothing. There is an existing state, but the question now is: Will the resistance in Lebanon stop? Nobody guarantees that,” Khaddam remarked.

The French president asked again: “But can (Hezbollah) be disarmed?” The army can do this tactically, but politically it cannot. Syria can. What does Syria demand in return for this disarmament?”

He continued: “If the withdrawal takes place and (Hezbollah) is not disarmed, this will lead to provocations... But if it is disarmed, then Syria loses (something), and there must be something in return for that, which is to guarantee a Syrian presence in Lebanon. Perhaps these are dreams. What I want is for us to have a strong and intimate connection.”

Khaddam replied: “As President Chirac said, and as I said, and as President Assad asked me to say, we want to raise the level of contacts between us. We want a French presence in the region because this is a window that gives us some hope in the current international situation. This orientation requires communication, coordination and discussion. […] We want a just and comprehensive peace, and we want France to be at the center of this peace. […] we must remain wary of Netanyahu’s maneuvers. He is intelligent and ambitious, but also dogmatic. He may try to improve himself but without letting go of his beliefs.”

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Russia, China Unlikely to Back Iran Against US Military Threats

A man stands by the wreckage of a burnt bus bearing a banner (unseen) that reads "This was one of Tehran’s new buses that was paid for with the money of the people’s taxes,” in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
A man stands by the wreckage of a burnt bus bearing a banner (unseen) that reads "This was one of Tehran’s new buses that was paid for with the money of the people’s taxes,” in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Russia, China Unlikely to Back Iran Against US Military Threats

A man stands by the wreckage of a burnt bus bearing a banner (unseen) that reads "This was one of Tehran’s new buses that was paid for with the money of the people’s taxes,” in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
A man stands by the wreckage of a burnt bus bearing a banner (unseen) that reads "This was one of Tehran’s new buses that was paid for with the money of the people’s taxes,” in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square on January 15, 2026. (AFP)

While Russia and China are ready to back protest-rocked Iran under threat by US President Donald Trump, that support would diminish in the face of US military action, experts told AFP.

Iran is a significant ally to the two nuclear powers, providing drones to Russia and oil to China. But analysts told AFP the two superpowers would only offer diplomatic and economic aid to Tehran, to avoid a showdown with Washington.

"China and Russia don't want to go head-to-head with the US over Iran," said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy expert for the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

Tehran, despite its best efforts over decades, has failed to establish a formal alliance with Moscow and Beijing, she noted.

If the United States carried out strikes on Iran, "both the Chinese and the Russians will prioritize their bilateral relationship with Washington", Geranmayeh said.

China has to maintain a "delicate" rapprochement with the Trump administration, she argued, while Russia wants to keep the United States involved in talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

"They both have much higher priorities than Iran."

- Ukraine before Iran -

Despite their close ties, "Russia-Iranian treaties don't include military support" -- only political, diplomatic and economic aid, Russian analyst Sergei Markov told AFP.

Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said Moscow would do whatever it could "to keep the regime afloat".

But "Russia's options are very limited," he added.

Faced with its own economic crisis, "Russia cannot become a giant market for Iranian products" nor can it provide "a lavish loan", Gabuev said.

Nikita Smagin, a specialist in Russia-Iran relations, said that in the event of US strikes, Russia could do "almost nothing".

"They don't want to risk military confrontation with other great powers like the US -- but at the same time, they're ready to send weaponry to Iran," he said.

"Using Iran as a bargaining asset is a normal thing for Russia," Smagin said of the longer-term strategy, at a time when Moscow is also negotiating with Washington on Ukraine.

Markov agreed. "The Ukrainian crisis is much more important for Russia than the Iranian crisis," he argued.

- Chinese restraint -

China is also ready to help Tehran "economically, technologically, militarily and politically" as it confronts non-military US actions such as trade pressure and cyberattacks, Hua Po, a Beijing-based independent political observer, told AFP.

If the United States launched strikes, China "would strengthen its economic ties with Iran and help it militarize in order to contribute to bogging the United States down in a war in the Middle East," he added.

Until now, China has been cautious and expressed itself "with restraint", weighing the stakes of oil and regional stability, said Iran-China relations researcher Theo Nencini of Sciences Po Grenoble.

"China is benefiting from a weakened Iran, which allows it to secure low-cost oil... and to acquire a sizeable geopolitical partner," he said.

However, he added: "I find it hard to see them engaging in a showdown with the Americans over Iran."

Beijing would likely issue condemnations, but not retaliate, he said.

Hua said the Iran crisis was unlikely to have an impact on China-US relations overall.

"The Iranian question isn't at the heart of relations between the two countries," he argued.

"Neither will sever ties with the other over Iran."

Features

Beirut’s Commodore Hotel, a Haven for Journalists During Lebanon’s Civil War, Shuts Down

People stand outside the closed Commodore hotel, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
People stand outside the closed Commodore hotel, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
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Beirut’s Commodore Hotel, a Haven for Journalists During Lebanon’s Civil War, Shuts Down

People stand outside the closed Commodore hotel, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
People stand outside the closed Commodore hotel, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)

During Lebanon’s civil war, the Commodore Hotel in western Beirut's Hamra district became iconic among the foreign press corps.

For many, it served as an unofficial newsroom where they could file dispatches even when communications systems were down elsewhere. Armed guards at the door provided some sense of protection as sniper fights and shelling were turning the cosmopolitan city to rubble.

The hotel even had its own much-loved mascot: a cheeky parrot.

The Commodore endured for decades after the 15-year civil war ended in 1990 — until this week, when it closed for good.

The main gate of the nine-story hotel with more than 200 rooms was shuttered Monday. Officials at the Commodore refused to speak to the media about the decision to close.

Although the country’s economy is beginning to recover from a protracted financial crisis that began in 2019, tensions in the region and the aftermath of the Israel-Hezbollah war that was halted by a tenuous ceasefire in November 2024 are keeping many tourists away. Lengthy daily electricity cuts force businesses to rely on expensive private generators.

The Commodore is not the first of the crisis-battered country’s once-bustling hotels to shut down in recent years.

But for journalists who lived, worked and filed their dispatches there, its demise hits particularly hard.

“The Commodore was a hub of information — various guerrilla leaders, diplomats, spies and of course scores of journalists circled the cafes and lounges,” said Tim Llewellyn, a former BBC Middle East correspondent who covered the civil war. “On one occasion (late Palestinian leader) Yasser Arafat himself dropped in to sip coffee with” with the hotel manager's father, he recalled.

A line to the outside world

At the height of the civil war, when telecommunications were dysfunctional and much of Beirut was cut off from the outside world, it was at the Commodore where journalists found land lines and Telex machines that always worked to send reports to their media organizations around the globe.

Across the front office desk in the wide lobby of the Commodore, there were two teleprinters that carried reports of The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies.

“The Commodore had a certain seedy charm. The rooms were basic, the mattresses lumpy and the meal fare wasn’t spectacular,” said Robert H. Reid, the AP’s former Middle East regional editor, who was among the AP journalists who covered the war. The hotel was across the street from the international agency’s Middle East head office at the time.

“The friendly staff and the camaraderie among the journalist-guests made the Commodore seem more like a social club where you could unwind after a day in one of the world’s most dangerous cities,” Reid said.

Llewellyn remembers that the hotel manager at the time, Yusuf Nazzal, told him in the late 1970s “that it was I who had given him the idea” to open such a hotel in a war zone.

Llewellyn said that during a long chat with Nazzal on a near-empty Middle East Airlines Jumbo flight from London to Beirut in the fall of 1975, he told him that there should be a hotel that would make sure journalists had good communications, “a street-wise and well-connected staff running the desks, the phones, the teletypes.”

During Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and a nearly three-month siege of West Beirut by Israeli troops, journalists used the roof of the hotel to film fighter jets striking the city.

The parrot

One of the best-known characters at the Commodore was Coco the parrot, who was always in a cage near the bar. Patrons were often startled by what they thought was the whiz of an incoming shell, only to discover that it was Coco who made the sound.

AP’s chief Middle East correspondent Terry Anderson was a regular at the hotel before he was kidnapped in Beirut in 1985 and held for seven years, becoming one of the longest-held American hostages in history.

Videos of Anderson released by his kidnappers later showed him wearing a white T-shirt with the words “Hotel Commodore Lebanon.”

With the kidnapping of Anderson and other Western journalists, many foreign media workers left the predominantly-Muslim western part of Beirut, and after that the hotel lost its status as a safe haven for foreign journalists.

Ahmad Shbaro, who worked at different departments of the hotel until 1988, said the main reason behind the Commodore’s success was the presence of armed guards that made journalists feel secure in the middle of Beirut’s chaos as well as functioning telecommunications.

He added that the hotel also offered financial facilities for journalists who ran out of money. They would borrow money from Nazzal and their companies could pay him back by depositing money in his bank account in London.

Shbaro remembers a terrifying day in the late 1970s when the area of the hotel was heavily shelled and two rooms at the Commodore were hit.

“The hotel was full and all of us, staffers and journalists, spent the night at Le Casbah,” a famous nightclub in the basement of the building, he said.

In quieter times, journalists used to spend the night partying by the pool.

“It was a lifeline for the international media in West Beirut, where journalists filed, ate, slept, and hid from air raids, shelling, and other violence,” said former AP correspondent Scheherezade Faramarzi.

“It gained both fame and notoriety,” she said, speaking from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

The hotel was built in 1943 and kept functioning until 1987 when it was heavily damaged in fighting between Shiite and Druze militiamen at the time. The old Commodore building was later demolished and a new structure was build with an annex and officially opened again for the public in 1996.

But Coco the parrot was no longer at the bar. The bird went missing during the 1987 fighting. Shbaro said it is believed he was taken by one of the gunmen who stormed the hotel.

Features

Key Details of Greenland’s Rich but Largely Untapped Mineral Resources

Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
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Key Details of Greenland’s Rich but Largely Untapped Mineral Resources

Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)

The Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers will meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday after President Donald Trump recently
stepped up threats to take over Greenland.

The autonomous territory of Denmark could be useful for the ​United States because of its strategic location and rich mineral resources. A 2023 survey showed that 25 of 34 minerals deemed "critical raw materials" by the European Commission were found in Greenland.

The extraction of oil and natural gas is banned in Greenland for environmental reasons, while development of its mining sector has been snarled in red tape and opposition from indigenous people.

Below are details of Greenland's main mineral deposits, based on data from its Mineral Resources Authority:

RARE EARTHS
Three of Greenland's biggest deposits are located in the southern province of Gardar.

Companies ‌seeking to ‌develop rare-earth mines are Critical Metals Corp, which bought the ‌Tanbreez ⁠deposit, ​Energy Transition Minerals, ‌whose Kuannersuit project is stalled amid legal disputes, and Neo Performance Materials.

Rare-earth elements are key to permanent magnets used in electric vehicles (EV) and wind turbines.

GRAPHITE
Occurrences of graphite and graphite schist are reported from many localities on the island.
GreenRoc has applied for an exploitation license to develop the Amitsoq graphite project.
Natural graphite is mostly used in EV batteries and steelmaking.

COPPER
According to the Mineral Resources Authority, most copper deposits have drawn only limited exploration campaigns.

Especially interesting are the underexplored areas ⁠in the northeast and center-east of Greenland, it said.

London-listed 80 Mile is seeking to develop the Disko-Nuussuaq deposit, which has ‌copper, nickel, platinum and cobalt.

NICKEL
Traces of nickel accumulations are numerous, ‍according to the Mineral Resources Authority.

Major miner ‍Anglo American was granted an exploration license in western Greenland in 2019 and has ‍been looking for nickel deposits, among others.

ZINC
Zinc is mostly found in the north in a geologic formation that stretches more than 2,500 km (1,550 miles).

Companies have sought to develop the Citronen Fjord zinc and lead project, which had been billed as one of the world's largest undeveloped zinc resources.

GOLD
The most prospective ​areas for gold potential are situated around the Sermiligaarsuk fjord in the country's south.

Amaroq Minerals launched a gold mine last year in Mt Nalunaq in ⁠the Kujalleq Municipality.

DIAMONDS
While most small diamonds and the largest stones are found in the island's west, their presence in other regions may also be significant.

IRON ORE
Deposits are located at Isua in southern West Greenland, at Itilliarsuk in central West Greenland, and in North West Greenland along the Lauge Koch Kyst.

TITANIUM-VANADIUM
Known deposits of titanium and vanadium are in the southwest, the east and south.

Titanium is used for commercial, medical and industrial purposes, while vanadium is mainly used to produce specialty steel alloys. The most important industrial vanadium compound, vanadium pentoxide, is used as a catalyst for the production of sulfuric acid.

TUNGSTEN
Used for several industrial applications, tungsten is mostly found in the central-east and northeast of the country, with assessed deposits in the south and west.

URANIUM
In 2021, ‌the then-ruling left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit party banned uranium mining, effectively halting development of the Kuannersuit rare-earths project, which has uranium as a byproduct.