;
the People's Council was expanded to 250 seats total prior to the
May 1990 election

_#_Communists: mostly sympathizers, numbering about 5,000

_#_Other political or pressure groups: non-Bath parties have little
effective political influence; Communist party ineffective; greatest
threat to Asad regime lies in factionalism in the military; conservative
religious leaders; Muslim Brotherhood

_#_Member of: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24,
G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Walid MOUALEM;
Chancery at 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
232-6313;

US--Ambassador Edward P. DJEREJIAN; Embassy at Abu Rumaneh,
Al Mansur Street No.2, Damascus (mailing address is P. O. Box 29,
Damascus); telephone [963] (11) 333052 or 332557, 330416, 332814, 332315,
714108, 337178, 333232, 334352

_#_Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black
with two small green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered
in the white band; similar to the flag of Yemen which has a plain white
band and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic
inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white
band; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a symbolic eagle
centered in the white band

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Syria's rigidly structured Bathist economy turned
out slightly more goods in 1990 than in 1983, when the population was 20%
smaller. Economic difficulties are attributable, in part, to severe
drought in several recent years, costly but unsuccessful attempts
to match Israel's military strength, a falloff in Arab aid, and
insufficient foreign exchange earnings to buy needed inputs for industry
and agriculture. Socialist policy, embodied in a thicket of bureaucratic
regulations, in many instances has driven away or pushed underground the
mercantile and entrepreneurial spirit for which Syrian businessmen have
long been famous. Two bright spots: a sizable number of villagers have
benefited from land redistribution, electrification, and other rural
development programs; and a recent find of light crude oil has enabled
Syria to cut oil imports. A long-term concern is the additional drain of
upstream Euphrates water by Turkey when its vast dam and irrigation
projects ar