Syria Severs Moroccan Ties Over Peres Talks : Accuses King Hassan of ‘Black Treason’

Denouncing what it called Morocco’s “black treason,” Syria on Tuesday severed diplomatic relations with that moderate Arab nation hours after King Hassan II met with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

The speed and harshness of the Syrian announcement appeared designed to warn other Arab countries--particularly Jordan--not to lend their support to Hassan’s peace initiative.

“Syria, which cannot be silent in the face of this black treason, has decided to break all . . . relations with the Moroccan kingdom and has asked all Arab governments to take measures which fulfill their national commitments,” said an official statement aired by Damascus radio.

Throughout the Arab world, the visit by Peres to Morocco was being compared with the trip by the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Israel in 1977, an event largely regarded in the region as a betrayal of Arab solidarity. That trip led to the Camp David negotiations with Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978 and the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement of 1979.

In the aftermath of the Sadat visit, 17 Arab nations, including a reluctant Morocco, broke relations with Egypt. But there have been no indications that other countries plan to follow Syria’s lead in the current dispute.

The Peres visit was condemned by Libya, which signed a treaty of economic and political cooperation with Morocco in August, 1984, but the government of Col. Moammar Kadafi did not immediately break ties with Morocco.

“I don’t believe what I hear,” Kadafi was quoted as having told the Libyan news agency. “If such a visit did take place, this would represent a grave violation” of the unity treaty, Kadafi said.

Condemnation by Iraq

The Arab Baath Socialist Party of Iraq condemned the Peres visit and said it viewed the mission with suspicion. A party statement said Hassan, whom it described as the ruler of Morocco without mentioning his name, has a “strange and deviant” attitude.

Hassan’s only support in the Arab world appeared to come from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who assumed office after the assassination of Sadat in 1981.

“We are ready to support any initiative that will support the peace process and achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East,” Mubarak said.

Mubarak himself has been reluctant of late to commit himself to a meeting with Peres. Officially, their talks have been put off until after a settlement is reached in their dispute over the Sinai Peninsula resort of Taba, situated on the Gulf of Aqaba and claimed by both Egypt and Israel.

Quiet in Jordan

There was no immediate reaction from the government of Jordan’s King Hussein, who was reported to have telephoned Syrian President Hafez Assad on Monday after receiving an emissary from the Moroccan monarch. Hussein also called King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Mubarak, although the contents of these discussions were not disclosed.

The Syrian government historically has opposed efforts at solving the Middle East deadlock through what it regards as “separate” negotiations, preferring instead to turn the issue over to an international conference. The position has been endorsed by the Soviet Union, Syria’s principal patron and arms supplier.

Although widely regarded as renegades for supporting non-Arab Iran in its war with Arab Iraq, the Syrians exercise enormous influence over other Arab regimes, particularly those in the Persian Gulf, that are wary of offending Damascus or becoming targets of Palestinian terrorism.

Reconciled With Hussein

The Syrians, who recently reconciled with Hussein after several years of poor relations, have been concerned in recent months that Israel might attempt to induce Jordan into a bilateral agreement over the West Bank of the Jordan River, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

Syrian concern appeared to suggest that Hassan’s meeting with Peres might be a prelude to other negotiations. In the past, Morocco, with a large community of Jews, has served as an intermediary between Israel and the other Arab states. Widely regarded as a moderate, Hassan is chairman of the 19-member Arab League.

The Peres visit was also denounced in Lebanon and Algeria, two countries that have been aligned with Syria in recent months.

An Algerian Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as calling the visit “an outrage against the whole Arab nation and an unqualified threat to its most sacred cause, the liberation of Palestine.”