"... For Syrians worried about the carnage in Iraq, the Baathist government offers security..."

The National:

"... Hariri was close to the Saudi royal family, and his death further strained relations between Syria and the kingdom. Things reached a new low during the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbollah, when Assad called his fellow Arab leaders “half-men” for their criticism of it. In 2008, King Abdullah boycotted an Arab League summit in Damascus and withdrew his ambassador from the Syrian capital.

In response to the cold shoulder from the US and its Arab allies, Mr Assad became more dependent on Iran, which helped shore up the Syrian economy with construction investments and cheap oil....

It is a mistake to assume that the latest diplomatic manoeuvering means that Syria will abandon Iran or fall in line behind Washington. The Syrian-Iranian alliance has endured for nearly 30 years; it cannot be undone lightly....Thanks to the Iraq war, Mr Assad’s regime became stronger. For Syrians worried about the carnage in Iraq, the Baathist government offers security ..... Syria has consistently offered to sign a separate peace agreement with Israel in exchange for the Heights, but the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown little willingness to negotiate with Damascus. For now, the path to negotiations is bleak. The Syrian regime will continue to play on regional dynamics to advance its interests. In other words, Mr Assad is keeping all of his options open – as his father taught him to do."