Did I not tell you that the Syrian government will backtrack from the stance of Faruq Ash-Shar` toward the Saudi government? A Syrian official statement today said that Ash-Shar` did not say what he actually said about Saudi Arabia. You look at the Saudi media, and there is a campaign against the Syrian government, and the Syrian media are totally silent. In fact, a columnist at Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat (the mouthpiece of Prince Salman which has been leading a campaign against Syria for 2 years now) had the audacity to complain about criticisms of Saudi Arabia by two pro-Syrian politicians in Lebanon. I like it when the Saudi media roll out `Abdul-Halim Khaddam to counter the position of the Asad government. Here is a credible man. You can never count on the Syrian government to take a principled stand on anything, except the preservation of the Asad regime.