SYRIA: Uncharitable souls called it a summit of pariahs, and compared the deepening alliance between Syria and Iran to two one-legged men hopping along arm-in-arm.
But the state visit of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which ended here yesterday, conveyed a message: while the US and Europe malign and threaten both countries, they will stand together. "The current developments in the region and the world necessitate this meeting by the leaders to co-ordinate stands . . . and to face the escalated pressures and plots being hatched against Syria and Iran," the Syria Times explained. Alluding to the UN commission of inquiry which suspects the Syrian regime of assassinating former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran "opposes foreign intervention" in the Middle East. "Foreign intervention" is Syrian shorthand for attempts to prise Lebanon from the grip of Damascus.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad reciprocated by supporting Iran's "right to peaceful nuclear energy". No one has provided a convincing or logical reason why Iran should not be allowed to enrich uranium, Mr Assad said. "But if the aim is to free the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction . . . it should start with Israel."
Syria pulled out all the stops for Mr Ahmadinejad, whose diatribes against Israel have made him persona non grata in polite society. National anthems, an honour guard, a 21-gun salute and a state banquet were organised by officials in Damascus.
Flush with oil money, Tehran can offer Damascus economic aid and cut-price crude. Hariri's assassination estranged Syria's Saudi and Egyptian friends; Iran and the Lebanese Hizbollah are all they have left. Syria is Iran's only window on the Arab world, providing Mr Ahmadinejad with access to Lebanon and extremist Palestinian groups.
The Iranian president could not resist a provocative outburst. "The Jews must go back to Europe," he told Iranian television during a tour of the Assad library. "Palestine is for Palestinians." In the Iranian embassy, Mr Ahmadinejad later received several of the Palestinian opposition groups which are sheltered by Damascus. On a visit to Tehran late last year, Khaled Mishaal, a Hamas leader who lives in Damascus, promised to step up attacks on Israel if anyone attacks Iranian nuclear facilities.
Mr Assad said his discussions with Mr Ahmadinejad centred on Iraq. Publicly, the leaders professed agreement on the necessity to support the political process, to restore stability and to withdraw foreign troops according to a timetable. The political process in Iraq is dominated by Iran's Shia allies, whose victory in parliamentary elections was confirmed yesterday. Alluding to the Sunni-led insurgency, Mr Ahmadinejad said violence in Iraq must stop because it is "the best pretext for continuing the occupation".
Informed Syrian sources say there is disagreement between Tehran and Damascus over Iraq. "Iran wants Syria to support the Iraqi government, the way they supported Hizbollah in Lebanon. But Syria rejects the idea that they can help the Shia in Iraq and the US army will go," said a Syrian insider. "Syria has good relations with the ex-Baathists. There are many former members of Saddam's regime in Damascus, and there are meetings with Syrian intelligence."
To prove to Washington that they fight terrorism, Mr Assad's regime claims it has arrested 8,000 Syrians, Iraqis and Arabs who were attempting to cross the border to Iraq. "They probably have," the informed source said. But, he added, that doesn't prevent Damascus playing both sides - a classic Syrian strategy long used in Lebanon: "If Iraq settles down, the US will turn on Syria, so the regime wants to keep the war going. The regime wants to use its ability to help the US in Iraq as a bargaining chip.
Not all Syrians are thrilled with Mr Assad's foreign policy. "Iran, Syria, Hizbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have formed an alliance," said Ryad Saif, a Syrian opposition leader who was freed this week after four and a half years in prison.
"The whole world is on the other side. Is this really in the interest of the Syrian people? We need technology, to train our people, imports and exports. I don't understand what we're doing with Iran."
If the British-educated, secular Baathist Syrian president finds Mr Ahmadinejad's intense religiosity distasteful, he doesn't show it. Mr Assad was the first foreign leader to rush to Tehran after Ahmadinejad's inauguration in August, and this week's state visit was a way of returning the favour. The Iranian leader indulged in a little tourism to Shia shrines and the Omayad mosque where Salaheddin - the Muslim who drove out the crusaders - is buried.