The Assad regime issued an emphatic denial this morning that it is planning to invite the Dalai Lama for an official visit to Syria. 

On the face of it, the idea of Assad hobnobbing with the Tibetan Buddhist leader is preposterous – not least because it would infuriate the Chinese government which up to now has been one of the Syrian regime's key supporters in the diplomatic arena. For that reason, the story sounds like disinformation cooked up by Assad's opponents – which is certainly how the official news agency is presenting it. It quotes a foreign ministry spokesman as saying:

"These reports are baseless. The timing and content indicate that the purpose of these reports is damaging the Syrian-Chinese relations ... Syria highly appreciates the Chinese stance and undoubtedly supports the One-China policy."

It will be interesting, though, to see what steps the authorities take to track down and punish the source of this baseless story – since the source appears to be none other than President Assad himself.

Last weekend, Assad had a three-hour meeting in Damascus with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of the World Chess Federation. Ilyumzhinov – described as "an eccentric Russian millionaire" – was officially visiting Syria to promote the teaching of chess in schools, though the New York Times noted that he had also gone to Libya last year in an effort to negotiate a settlement between the Libyan rebels and Colonel Gaddafi. The NYT's report continued:

"Although he holds no formal diplomatic position with the Russian government, his repeated visits to Arab countries in turmoil have reinforced the impression that he is serving as an informal envoy, using the chess organisation's business as a fittingly Russian ruse."

Following Ilyumzhinov's visit, the World Chess Federation posted an account on its website which included this paragraph:

"During the discussion the Syrian President informed Mr. Ilyumzhinov of his intention to invite H.H. the Dalai Lama to Syria on an official visit. Ilyumzhinov said: 'President Assad said that on the Syrian territory there is one of the most ancient Buddhist temples erected about two thousand years ago. He would like to invite H.H. Dalai Lama to sanctify this temple'."

Unlikely as might sound, the story of the Buddhist temple may well be true – Syria certainly had contact with Buddhists in ancient times: 

"In 255 BCE, the Indian Mauryan emperor, Ashoka (r. 273 - 232 BCE), sent Buddhist monks as ambassadors to establish relations with Antiochus II Theos of Syria and Western Asia, Ptolemy II Philadelphos of Egypt, Magas of Cyrene, Antigone Gonatas of Macedonia, and Alexander of Corinth. Eventually, communities of Indian traders, both Hindu and Buddhist, settled in some of the major sea and river ports of Asia Minor, the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. Indians of other occupations soon followed. 

"The Syrian writer, Zenob Glak, wrote of an Indian community, complete with its own religious temples, on the upper Euphrates River in modern-day Turkey to the west of Lake Van in the second century BCE, and the Greek ex-patriot, Dion Chrysostom (40 – 112 CE), wrote of a similar community in Alexandria. As evidenced by archeological remains, other Buddhist settlements were south of Baghdad on the lower Euphrates River at Kufah, on the eastern Iranian coast at Zir Rah and at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden on the island of Socotra."

But how did the conversation between Assad and Ilyumzhinov move from chess (and, presumably, Russian views of the turmoil in Syria) to Buddhism and the Dalai Lama? The answer is simple: because Ilyumzhinov himself is a Buddhist.

Besides his chess-playing activities, Ilyumzhinov spent 17 years (1993-2010) as president of Kalmykia, a republic in the Russian Federation. The ethnic Kalmyks, who make up about 53% of its population, are traditionally Buddhist – and they revere the Dalai Lama. In fact, the Dalai Lama paid them a visit in 2004.

Given this background, it seems quite plausible that in an exchange of pleasantries Assad did make some off-the-cuff remark about hoping the Dalai Lama would one day visit Syria too – without thinking of the impact it would have on relations with China.

The World Chess Federation's account doesn't tell us much about what else the two men discussed, though apart from religious differences they seem to have a lot in common. An article on the BBC website describes Ilyumzhinov's rule over Kalmykia: 

"Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was elected president at the age of just over 30 after promising voters $100 each, and pledging to introduce what he called an "economic dictatorship" in the republic.

"During his authoritarian 17-year rule, Mr Iyumzhinov was frequently accused of diverting the republic's resources for his own use as well as of human rights abuses and of suppressing media freedom - accusations he denied."

The article continues:

"Months before resigning, he courted controversy by claimed claiming in a TV interview that he had been abducted by aliens and taken aboard their spaceship back in 1997."

I wonder if Ilyumzhinov told Assad about his contacts with the aliens. Having the Syrian president whisked off in a spaceship is one solution to the crisis that no one seems to have thought of so far.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 6 May 2012.