Syria's Odd Man OUT

摘要

Bashar al-assad was never cut out to be a dictator. A week after his Army completed its abrupt retreat from Lebanon, the introverted Syrian leader summoned about two dozen minority-party politicians to a gathering at the People's Palace, the private fortress erected by his father, Hafez al-Assad, on a moun-taintop above Damascus. The meeting's purpose wasn't to defend the pullout or to intimidate anyone who dared to criticize it Instead, the 39-year-old Assad focused on the agenda for next week's congress of the ruling Baath Party.