Report: Bashar al-Assad to visit Arab Gulf states

The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi said on Tuesday, quoting well-informed Arab sources, that Bashar al-Assad, son of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, will conduct a tour of several Gulf Cooperation Council member states.

The paper quoted the said sources as saying that the Syrian government had made contacts with several Arab Gulf states to discuss arrangements for this visit and to set a date for it, adding that Bashar does not so far possess any official title, only his military grade in the Syrian armed forces. It said there are mere rumors that a decision will be issued soon providing for Bashar s joining the Baath Party national leadership as a preliminary step to appointing him as the first deputy to the Syrian president.

The paper continued that several reports from Damascus stressed that Bashar al-Assad is leading a campaign against corruption in the country as well as modernizing Syrian institutions and injecting new youth and capable blood to leading positions.