DATE=6/15/2000 TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP TITLE=ASSAD'S DEATH LEAVES MANY QUESTIONS NUMBER=6-11876 BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS TELEPHONE=619-3335 CONTENT= INTRO: Seldom does the world's press have to deal simultaneously with two more momentous events than the death of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and the historic meeting of the leaders of South and North Korea in Pyongyang. In the Middle East, and elsewhere, international editorial page editors were assessing the repercussions of the Syrian leader's death and how it will impact on the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that are supposed to be moving toward a settlement in September. We get a sampling now from ________ in this week's World Opinion Roundup. TEXT: Several Lebanese and Egyptian dailies are anticipating that Syria's new leadership will promote better Syrian-Lebanese and Syrian-Palestinian relations, thus strengthening the overall bargaining position of the Arabs with Israel. European dailies, for the most part, wondered whether Bashar Assad, the late president's 34-year-old son, would have the internal strength and political cunning to maintain his father's rule in Syria. TEXT: To Israel first, where, in Tel Aviv, Haaretz writes in an editorial: VOICE: Israel is entitled to expect that the talks with Syria, when they resume, are fashioned to do more than address technicalities and matters of detail. They must also take Israeli public opinion into account. Hafez Assad spared no effort to guarantee that the Israelis remained alienated from Syria and its leadership. In contrast, Bashar Assad, who was educated in the West, is perceived as someone who understands how public opinion molds a democratic government's decision-making process. Thus Bashar, who now holds the key ... would be wise to direct a share of his words and deeds toward the Israeli public ... TEXT: As for the Jerusalem Post's view, here's part of an editorial from Tuesday [6/13]: VOICE: The first measure of whether Syria has in fact turned over a new leaf will be whether Hafez Assad's ignominious record of state- sponsored terrorism finally comes to [an] end ... Syria's modus operandi (method of operation) was to treat aggression against neighboring states as its right, and to expect to be "paid" diplomatically for ending its unacceptable behavior. TEXT: For a Syrian view of what lies ahead, and of the late president's legacy, we turn to the government-owned Syria Times in Damascus. VOICE: President Assad has left behind a complete set of rules and principles that will serve as guidance to his son in leading the country to the shore safely, and realizing his noble goals ... Given the perversities of Mideast politics, the only way to ensure that this approach will work, is through pursuing the late president's policy. Dr. Bashar is well positioned to do so. Any expectation that a dramatic shift in policy will occur ... appears groundless ... TEXT: For the Lebanese reaction, we turn to Sunni Al- Liwa in Beirut. VOICE: If [President] Clinton will not settle the matter this time and, as a sponsor of the peace process, act honestly, he will have again lost a historic chance, as when he did not turn the summit [with] ... President al-Assad in Geneva into a historic landmark in the Arab- Israeli conflict. TEXT: In Egypt, we turn to the Arabic language daily in Cairo, Al Ahram, which writes: VOICE: It is a major injustice to characterize America's interest in Syria based on the sole presence of [Secretary of State Madeleine] Albright at the funeral. In the past few months, the United States hosted a series of Syrian-Israeli talks ... and President Clinton intervened more than once ... This does not mean ... Washington will rush toward Damascus, but it may wait until the domestic situation is stable. TEXT: An earlier column in Al Ahram focused on President Assad's successor: VOICE: [Mr.] Bashar has a great responsibility to help Syria transcend the crisis of Assad's death to dealing with the challenges of peace and economy ... [President] Assad was able to turn the country into an influential regional power ... He prepared [his son] Bashar to rule with a new vision. [He] is a civil (not military) personality interested in fostering modern developments in technology and the economy ... Bashar will seek his father's footsteps with his own vision for government. The question is: How can peace with Israel and economic revival occur without mistakes threatening the stability that [President] Assad established. TEXT: On to the Gulf now, where we see this article in Al-Siyassah of Kuwait City, which asks: VOICE: What will happen to Syria after Bashar (Assad) takes the lead? His job will not be easy. He will be faced with enforcing the constitutional ruling [clearing the way for him to take office] first before paying attention to economic and political issues. Bashar will face new challenges, such as globalization, to guarantee the stability of Syria. TEXT: For European reaction, we go first to Britain, where London's Guardian published this analysis after the Syrian president's death: VOICE: Israel's sigh of relief at the death of Hafez Al-Assad was so loud we have virtually been able to hear it from here. Suddenly Israel's most lasting enemy has been plucked off the board of Middle East politics. But Israelis, and their prime minister in particular, should temper their joy. With the old strongman gone, Syria will find it harder, not easier, to make peace. Israel has painted [President] Assad as the great stumbling block. ... The truth is more interesting. The Israelis have knowingly made demands that [[president] Assad could not accept. ... Even without such demands, Bashar Al-Assad could be forgiven for hesitating to rush into the arms of Israel. The fate of those who have is not comforting TEXT: In Scotland, Edinburgh's The Scotsman ran this assessment from East Jerusalem. VOICE: Few Palestinians here were moved by the death of the Syrian president ... For supporters of Yasser Arafat, he is recalled as a man whose policies collided repeatedly with the aspirations of the P-L-O (Palestine Liberation Organization). Mr. Assad's name is associated in the public mind with a massacre of Palestinians by Syrian-allied Christian forces in Beirut during the 1976 civil war. ... Still, Palestinian leaders were clearly hoping that Mr. Arafat's participation in Mr. Assad's funeral could start a new, more amicable chapter after years of acrimony ... TEXT: In Germany, Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung pondered the future and wrote: VOICE: In the peace talks with Israel, which are in a stalemate anyway, the designated Syrian leader will not demand less than his father. The withdrawal from the entire Golan Heights and from the eastern bank of Lake Galilee. In an area where Assad Senior did not make any concessions, Assad junior cannot afford to make any, since it is not clear what he could win during President Clinton's last months in office and in view of the weakness of Israel's Prime Minister Barak ... TEXT: And finally in North America, the Globe and Mail of Toronto in Canada views the late President Assad this way: VOICE: File him under "dictators." There's no other way to describe a man who ruled so ruthlessly; who ordered whole neighborhoods of his country's second largest city bulldozed, people and all, for harboring members of a militant opposition; who let smuggling and corruption become the dominant form of economic expression; who never allowed another candidate to run against him. ... Yet for all his brutality, this much could be said of the man: He was dependable. He agreed to a cease-fire with Israel on the Golan Heights in 1974, and for 26 years there has not been a single incident on the frontier to spoil it. More recently, he stuck by his word and supported the United States-led Gulf War against Iraq in 1991, giving the operation instant legitimacy in the Arab world. ... Hafez Assad was a dictator, but his son has a chance to be found among the peacemakers. TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of reaction to the transition under way in Syria following the death of Hafez Al-Assad. NEB/ANG/JP 15-Jun-2000 17:25 PM EDT (15-Jun-2000 2125 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .