[Juanita Phillips, Cnn Anchor:] The funeral of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad is underway in Damascus. The coffin of the late president has been taken to the city's main square to allow the public to pay their last respects. The ceremonies will be led by his son, Bashar Assad. He's expected to take over as president. And for the past hour, we've been watching live pictures coming in from Damascus of huge crowds of mourners turning out to watch the funeral procession. That funeral started about one hour ago, the casket carried on the shoulders of pallbearers from Mr. Assad's home to the main Ummayad Square. That is one of the major landmarks of Damascus. And already it's filled with thousands of mourners; has been since Saturday, when Mr. Assad died. Now, a lot of focus this morning has been on the heir apparent, the late president's son, Bashar al-Assad. He is expected to take over from his father. At 34, he's an eye doctor. He's an educated man, educated in the West. He has a reputation as a modernizer and a forward thinker. But he has only recently developed his political credentials. Also, much focus today on the effect that the death of the president will have on the peace process. The Syrian track of the peace talks have always been the most difficult, they've always been the slowest and even before President Assad's death, the SyriaIsrael, peace process was deadlocked; the main issue, the Golan Heights. Syria wants every inch of the territory handed back. Israel will only agree to most, and it wants guaranteed access to the sea of Galilee. So all of those issues very much in focus as the funeral of Syrian President, Hafez al-Assad, gets underway in Damascus. Well, joining us now from Damascus is CNN's Brent Sadler. He's been covering the funeral since it began. Brent, what's happening now?
[Brent Sadler, Cnn Correspondent:] Juanita, the state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, the late Syrian leader, is now well underway. We saw the coffin bearing the Syrian flag for the first time just over an hour ago. That coffin has already passed through the main Ummayad Square here in the center of Damascus. Tens of thousands of Syrians still milling around, even though the coffin passed here several minutes ago. It's now on its way, being taken by a military vehicle, with military escort, up to what's known here in Damascus as the People's Palace, which sits atop a hill, has a commanding view of the city. And the coffin will remain in the People's Palace here in Damascus for several hours. This will give the opportunity, under a controlled environment, for the many international dignitaries that have been pouring into the Syrian capital to pay their condolences and to pay their respects to Bashar al-Assad, who's the anointed heir to his late father. I'm joined here in Damascus by Professor Michael Hudson, who's an expert on Arab affairs from Georgetown University in the United States. What do you make of it so far in terms of the numbers here, and in terms of what we've been seeing on the streets, particularly people trying to burst through the security cordon to try and touch the coffin as it passed through here?
[Michael Hudson, Georgetown University:] Well, Brent, it's been a most impressing and moving ceremony. It is the crowd has been respectful, well behaved. Certainly many among them, I think, have been overcome by emotion. At the same time, it is a well organized ceremony, and it's pretty clear that elements from the public sector workforce have been brought in. Transportation has been supplied, and banners and the necessary accoutrements of proper mourning have been provided. But, there's no doubt that this is an impressive ceremony, and I think that it marks a real turning point in Syrian modern political history.
[Sadler:] Now, CNN's Rula Amin has been on the streets of Damascus since early this morning. The area where the cortege passed through has been closed to vehicular traffic. Rula Amin, if you can hear me, what's been your perspective of the funeral so far?
[Rula Amin, Cnn Correspondent:] Every Syrian that is present here has that on his mind. I'm here with the crowd. Some of them have climbed over the
[Sadler:] Rula, do you think the Syrians are informed enough about their economic situation, and do you think there's any real nationwide perception public perception that life might get better under a younger leader, who may improve the economic situation within Syria, but also who has a lot of challenges in that respect ahead, given the fact that the old order is still in place in many parts?
[Amin:] Brent, you know, the old order is in place. But in the last few months especially in the last few months, Dr. Bashar has been making changes. He has changed the government. The government of Syria was bad for the last, like, nine years. He changed the government. He had put new people there technocrats
[Sadler:] All right. CNN's Rula Amin, on the streets of Damascus. Thank you very much indeed for that insight. Continuing live coverage will go on throughout the day from Syria. In the meantime, back to the studio and Juanita Phillips.
[Phillips:] All right. Thanks for that, Brent. Well, joining us now from Atlanta to discuss President Assad's 30- year legacy is Murhaf Jouejati. He's a political analyst. Mr. Jouejati, over those 30 years, both positive and negative aspects to President Assad's rule. Will history remember him, do you think, as a strong leader who brought stability to a very fractured society, or as a ruthless, repressive leader who held Syria back?
[Murhaf Jouejati, Political Analyst:] Well, I tend to identify more with the first. He is certainly the leader, the last in a long line of Arab nationalist leaders in Syria, that has truly put Syria on the map. After all, before President Assad was there, Syria was a highly unstable country. It was pushed and pulled by different regional pulls of power, such as Egypt and Iraq. President Assad, in his 30 years, to his credit, managed to make Syria a strong state, a strong regional player and has given Syria a stability that it has never known until he was in power.
[Phillips:] We've been watching the huge crowds of mourners who've turned out for the funeral this morning. Is that a genuine sign, do you think, of the late president's popularity?
[Jouejati:] I think so. I think the crowd is very moved. I think the loss of President Assad is a major loss for Syria. It's a major loss for the Arab world. Most Syrians have known no other president than President Hafez al-Assad, and I think it is a very genuine feeling of sorrow. There are those who loved President Assad. There are those, certainly, who despised President Assad. But I think both opponents and proponents of Mr. Assad admired him very much.
[Phillips:] President Assad came to symbolize, over the time that he was in power, hard line Arab opposition to Israel. Is that going to change now that his son is poised to take over? Is he going to take a more flexible approach, do you think?
[Jouejati:] Syria is believes itself to be, whether rightly or wrongly, the most Arab of Arab countries. It is the spearhead of Arab nationalism. And this is the legacy of Hafez al-Assad in that he wants a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East in which Israel withdraws from all the territories it occupied in 1967. I think Dr. Bashar al-Assad will continue Assad's legacy. I think the tone may be softer, but the principle will be unchanged. The principle of recovering the Syrian Golan Heights is very popular among Syrian public opinion. And nothing indicated to me that Dr. Bashar would ask for anything less than the recovery of Syria's lands.
[Phillips:] Now, Dr. Bashar is said to be a very different man in style from his father. He's an eye doctor. He's only 34. He doesn't have a lot of political experience. Do you think he has the strength to rule Syria? It is a very difficult country with many different groups, and obviously some very serious issues facing it in the future.
[Jouejati:] I think so. I think Dr. Bashar will be a strong leader. The first legitimizing thing he gets, obviously, is the stature of his father. Also, he has been now trained for six years. He is popular. Syrians are waiting for further reforms. They want further liberalization, and they know that these things are embodied in Dr. Bashar al-Assad. You are right. He is young. And you are right. His style might be different. And we noticed that, in terms of the peace process, I think in a different tone, Dr. Bashar gave recently some interviews to Western and Arab newspapers. We did see a different tone toward Israel, but I think the same demands. And I think Dr. Bashar is truly in sync with Syrian public opinion as it stands today.
[Phillips:] All right. And just quickly, Mr. Jouejati, what about the leadership challenge being launched by the late president's brother Raf'at? How serious a threat is that?
[Jouejati:] I personally don't take it too seriously. I think Raf'at al-Assad does not have any forces on the ground. He does not have any human resources on the ground. Raf'at al-Assad let us say it let us say it openly is an unpopular man. He is a man who has been fired from the vice presidency. His functions in the Baath party have ceased. He was expelled from the Baath party. He is not only a persona non grata, but the Syrian state has declared him a common, low criminal. So, he may issue as many statements as he wishes. I do not think that it will upset at all the balance of power in Syria.
[Phillips:] All right. And Mr. Murhaf Jouejati, speaking to us today from Atlanta, thank you very much. And you've been watching our special live coverage of the funeral of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. We're going to take a short break and be back after that with more of the day's news from CNN center in Atlanta. And then we'll be continuing with our live coverage of the president's funeral in about 15 minutes' time. Do stay with us. END TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com