Government1 (Syria)
===================


     Communists:
         Syrian Communist Party (SCP)
     Other political or pressure groups:
         non-Ba`th parties have little effective political influence; Communist party
         ineffective; 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 Christopher W. S. ROSS; 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; FAX
         [963] (11) 718-687
     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