How Will Death of Syrian President Assad Impact Middle East Peace Process?
Aired June 11, 2000 – 8:20 a.m. ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: What effect will the death of Syria’s president have on the Middle East peace process and on Syria as a nation? Joining us from Washington this morning with his perspective is Jon Alterman, a program officer at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Good morning, Jon. JON ALTERMAN, U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE: Good morning, Kyra. PHILLIPS: Do you think Mr. Assad was making any progress at all with regard to the peace process? ALTERMAN: He was making progress but he was making progress on his timetable. His timetable didn’t always jive with everybody else’s timetable in the region. President Clinton and Prime Minister Barak had pretty much written off the Syria track for the near term, certainly until after the November elections in the U.S. So I don’t think that his death at this point really affects the Middle East peace process in the short-term in tha
