Syria - Government
	In August 1990 Syria was eager to exploit the diplomatic opportunities arising from Iraq´s invasion of Kuwait, earlier in the same month, and in particular to improve its relations with the USA. One major reason for this was Syria´s evolving relations with the USSR. Syria had signed a 20-year Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation with the USSR (a major source of military assistance) in October 1980. The continuing strength of Syrian-Soviet relations was confirmed in April 1990 by the visit of President Assad to Moscow. However, President Assad had criticized the programme of political liberalization being undertaken by the USSR, while the USSR had indicated its unwillingness to continue to underwrite Syria´s attempt to achieve strategic parity with Israel. Syria supported Egypt´s efforts to co-ordinate an Arab response to Iraq´s invasion of Kuwait, and agreed, at an emergency summit meeting held in Cairo in August 1990, to send troops to Saudi Arabia as part of a pan-Arab deterrent force, supporting the US effort to deter an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia. Despite widespread popular support among Syria´s Palestinian population for the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussain, Syria committed itself to the demand for an unconditional Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, and later in August the first contingent of Syrian troops was deployed in Saudi Arabia, joining a multinational force that was predominantly composed of US military personnel. President Assad was re-elected for a third seven-year term of office in February 1985. At a general election, held in February 1986, the Baath Party and other members of the NPF (excluding the Communist Party) obtained 151 of the 195 seats in the People´s Assembly; the Communist Party (which contested the election in dependently of the NPF) won nine seats, and independent candidates 35. Syria disapproved of the second interim Egyptian-Israeli Disengagement Agreement in September 1975, but agreed to acknowledge it as a "fait accompli" at the Arab summit conferences in Riyadh and Cairo in October 1976, in return for Egypt´s acceptance of Syria´s role in Lebanon. In early 1991 the overwhelming military defeat of Iraq by the US-led multinational force placed Syria in a stronger position with regard to virtually all of its major regional concerns. Syria consolidated the improvement in relations with Egypt that had begun in December 1989, and laid the foundation for increased co-operation with Egypt in matters of regional security. In early March 1991 the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the members of the Golf Co-operation Council (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman) met their Egyptian and Syrian counterparts in Damascus to discuss regional security issues. Since Iraq´s defeat by the US-led multinational force in February 1991, Syria has become a centre for elements of the Iraqi opposition. However, it remains committed to the territorial integrity of Iraq, fearing that disintegration might encourage minorities within Syria to pursue their own autonomy. In June 1997 three crossing points on the border between Iraq and Syria were reopened to facilitate trade between the two countries (Syria closed its border with Iraq in 1980). Syria´s relations with Iran are generally characterized by minor disagreements within the framework of commitment to a strategic partnership which each side regards as vital. By contrast, Syria´s relations with Turkey have become increasingly strained in the 1990s owing to disagreements over the sharing of water from the River Euphrates. No permanent agreement on this resource has been concluded, and both Syria and Iraq are concerned that new dams in Turkey will reduce their share of water from the Euphrates. Relations between Syria and Turkey deteriorated sharply in April 1996 after it was revealed that Turkey and Israel had concluded a military co-operation agreement earlier in the year. In August 1997 Syria condemned the decision by the USA, Israel and Turkey to conduct joint naval manoeuvres, although the three countries claimed that the exercises (eventually carried out in January 1998) were solely for humanitarian Purposes.