Death of Assad Leaves Questions About Syria's Stability, Middle East Peace
ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a day of sorrow and uncertainty in the Middle East, following the death of one of the region's longest-serving leaders, Syrian president Hafez Al-Assad. Assad, who was said to be ailing for some time, died of heart failure. He was 69. Autocratic, skillful, disciplined, and ruthless -- all words used to describe Assad. His death raises questions now about Syria's future stability and its prospects for peace with Israel. Our coverage begins with Major Garrett from the White House.</s>MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aides slipped President Clinton a note just before he took the stage to deliver his last commencement speech. Inside, word of Assad's death, another jolt to the unsettled Middle East process.</s>WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: While we had our disagreements, I always respected him because I felt that he was open and straightforward with me and because I felt he meant it when he said he had made a strategic choice for peace. I regret that that peace was not achieved in his lifetime, and I hope that it can still be achieved in no small measure of the because commitment he made.</s>GARRETT: Administration officials said it was too early to predict the affect Assad's death will have on the peace process, but pessimism is the dominant reaction, one shared by Middle East analysts.</s>MARK PERRY, MIDEAST ANALYST: We're not going to have any kind of aggressive following of a peace track with Israel perhaps for the next year until the leadership question is sorted out.</s>GARRETT: Assad's failing health has been a top administration concern for years and intensified when Mr. Clinton met a frail Syrian leader on March 26. That meeting produced no progress on granting Syria some access to the Sea of Galilee, or return of the Golan Heights to Syria, the two toughest issues separating Israel and Syria.</s>CLINTON: There will be a period of mourning in Syria. There will be a period of sorting out. And the Syrian people will make some decisions, and then we'll see what happens.</s>GARRETT: Administration officials hope Syria's new leaders, likely to be Assad's son Bashar, will have the political strength and will to reach a deal with Israel.</s>HALL: Messages of condolences from around the globe are pouring into Syria at this hour. Let's check in now with Rula Amin. She's beginning our coverage, also at the Syrian capital of Damascus.</s>RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Andria, it's 1:00 in the morning here. It's nightfall, but there are still crowds on the street. Just now, we've passed by a big march chanting slogans in support of the late president, and also more than in support of the late president, for his son Bashar. People have been calling on Bashar to succeed his father and stand by the legacy that his father had left him. President Assad passed away this morning. Syrians didn't know the news until 6:00 local time, and then everyone went to the street. They tried to go to the president's house. They went there, people were mourning, crying. And then the parliament moved quickly to pave the way for the president's son to take over. They changed the constitution. They dropped a couple of conditions that -- like the age of the next president, because Dr. Bashar is only 34 years old. The constitution said whoever is the president of the Syria has to be 40. They dropped that condition, they dropped a couple of other conditions, and they paved the way for Bashar to succeed his father. Later on in the day, the regional command for the ruling Baath Party nominated Dr. Bashar as a candidate for the presidency. On June 25th, that is in like two weeks from now, the Syrian parliament is going to meet to vote on that recommendation, for Bashar Assad to succeed his father. For now, Syrians are mourning, and they're mourning deeply. They're very sad. They're shocked. They also feel a bit taken aback, because this is a very sensitive time for Syria. Syria's going through a transition period. In one week's time, Syria was supposed to hold its first congress meeting for its ruling Baath party, the first in 15 years. It was a meeting that was supposed to put Syria on a new course regarding economy, regarding reforms, regarding corruption, and more important is regarding the peace process with Israel -- Andria.</s>HALL: Rula Amin reporting from the Syrian capital of Damascus. U.S. State Department officials watching the situation in Syria say the transfer of power appears to be carefully orchestrated, and officials believe Assad's death will have little immediate impact on Mideast peace negotiations. CNN's Andrea Koppel is at the State Department -- Andrea.</s>ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Andria, U.S. officials admit that President Assad was a known quantity. He was someone who, after all, had been in charge for the more than 30 years. He was firmly in control of the military, and he also had sway over Hezbollah in Lebanon. He was also someone who was always thinking about what was in Syria's best interests, and in the last six, seven years he made the calculation that peace was in Syria's best interest, peace with Israel. Now if his son succeeds him, then the question is will he want to continue down that path for peace. Also, U.S. officials admit that realistically, Dr. Bashar, if in fact he does become president of Syria, will be more focused on domestic concerns, trying to consolidate his power base, trying to get all his ducks in a row, and probably in that case wouldn't be as focused on what's happening outside of Syria, wouldn't want to think about peace with Israel because he would have more pressing concerns at home. Now in the short-term, some U.S. officials do believe that the death of President Assad may also have an impact on the Palestinian- Israeli peace track in that you now have the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is in his early 70s. He is now one of the oldest remaining Arab leaders, one of the old guard. And in the words of one senior U.S. official, it will now be a reminder to everyone that their biological clock is ticking. Reporting live, I'm Andrea Koppel, CNN, at the State Department.