Turning Point Sighted in U.S.-Syrian Relations : Officials Cite Readiness of Damascus to Serve as Intermediary With Tehran

A U.S. decision to return its ambassador to Syria after an absence of 11 months marks a symbolic, yet important, turning point in the relations of the two countries, according to Western diplomats and Arab officials in the Middle East.

These officials, echoing reports by officials in Washington, said that Ambassador William L. Eagleton will return to his post next month in the culmination of several months of delicate negotiations. They also echoed statements by officials in Washington that the move is not connected with American journalist Charles Glass’ having gained his freedom from Islamic kidnapers in Beirut.

Of prime importance, they said, was Syria’s apparent readiness to serve as an intermediary between Washington and Iran, which have no formal relations, in discussions that led last month to a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq War.

Domestic Reasons Interceded

For domestic reasons, Iran could not accept the resolution, but it was believed that Washington urgently sought and received Syrian help in determining Iran’s intentions, since the United States was then in the process of sending a flotilla of warships to the Persian Gulf region to protect 11 Kuwaiti oil tankers being re-registered under the American flag.

In fact, the first sign of a thaw in Syrian-American relations became apparent when Vernon A. Walters, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, visited Damascus last month and met twice with President Hafez Assad.

Before the Walters’ visit, relations between the United States and Syria had steadily appeared to worsen over allegations that Syria was involved in a series of terrorist incidents in Western Europe involving American targets.

After Britain broke diplomatic relations with Syria last October because of courtroom evidence that Syrian officials were involved in the attempted bombing of an Israeli airliner in London the previous April, Washington recalled Eagleton, reduced the staff of the American Embassy in Damascus and barred American companies from doing business with Syria.

Reluctant Display

Diplomats said the State Department took the action reluctantly as a display of solidarity on anti-terrorism with the British, who supported the United States when it attacked Libya in April, 1986.

In part, the reluctance grew from the conviction that Syria is too important a player in the Middle East to be dealt with by trying to isolate it. Any effort to revive the peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbors was doomed without Damascus having a role, officials said.

Since the worldwide outcry that surrounded the attempted bombing of the Israeli airliner, the Syrians have taken some steps to distance themselves from terrorism.

So-called “liaison offices” belonging to the Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, who was said to be responsible for the Rome and Vienna airport massacres in 1985, were closed. But Abu Nidal’s group was apparently permitted to continue functioning in Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Rumors of Punishment

In addition, there were widespread rumors, as yet not officially confirmed, that Assad had punished intelligence officials who were accused of planning the London bomb attempt, notably the chief of air force intelligence, Gen. Mohammed Khouli.

With the Syrian economy in increasingly dire straits, the Assad government was determined to seek a restoration of foreign aid that was abruptly terminated by the revelations of Syrian involvement in terrorism. These efforts have begun to take effect, with West Germany restoring aid it cut off last year and the European Communities announcing a reconsideration of its ban on assistance.

Western diplomats said the United States increasingly came to believe that Syrian intentions in Lebanon would in the long-term prove beneficial to U.S. interests, since the Syrians support the central Lebanese government and oppose expansion of the influence of Muslim extremists there.

In addition, the United States has repeatedly sought Syrian help in attempting to win the freedom of Americans held hostage by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon, including Glass before he escaped from his captors. Eight American are still being held.

Blow to Syria’s Prestige

Western diplomats familiar with U.S.-Syrian discussions discount Syria’s influence on the issue of the hostages. For example, they cite Glass’ kidnaping two months ago near a Syrian army checkpoint south of Beirut as a major blow to Syria’s prestige in Lebanon.

To free the hostages, in the view of Western diplomats, Syria would have to make a high-level decision to confront the fundamentalists in such groups as Hezbollah, or Party of God, in a violent battle on their home ground in the slums south of Beirut, where Syria does not now have any military force.

Little is known about Walters’ discussions with Assad about the hostages or the Iran-Iraq War, a conflict in which Syria has sided with non-Arab Iran against Iraq, which it considers an illegitimate rival for control of secular, nationalist forces in the Arab world.

Prior Understanding

But diplomats said the United States appeared to have obtained a prior understanding from Iran that it would not attack American or foreign shipping in the gulf as long as Iraq refrained from hitting Iranian shipping.

If such an agreement was made, it has not held up, however. Iran has clandestinely planted underwater mines in both the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, which have damaged American shipping, and Iranian boats have been accused of firing on foreign vessels.

While the United States maintained full diplomatic ties during Eagleton’s absence from Damascus, Middle East sources said his return there will signal that the rapprochement represented by the Walters visit in July has become a permanent aspect of U.S. policy.

Eagleton, 61, is a senior Arabist in the State Department. He has written extensively on the Middle East, including a book on the Kurds of Iraq, and he is an expert on Oriental art.