Being so classy and not speaking often publicly on general issues is a main attribute of the top leadership in the Syrian Baathist regime. They rarely allow themselves to be faced and challenged by the media. The regime tends to convey its messages via different proxies and mouthpieces who are regime-linked. These pawns could meet foreign officials or media to express the official line, funnily enough in an unofficial capacity.

Take for the example the Syrian uprising which is 7 month old now. Not a single Syrian official showed up in any TV show since the ‘troubles’ started in Syria; nothing like an interior minister, sub-minister or even a spokesman. The task is usually done by ‘analysts’, ‘academics’ or ‘strategists’ who are actually fiercer than the regime itself in expressing the official line. A lot of these names became infamous now as they have been hosted almost full-time on satellite channels like AlArabiya and AlJazeera. Dr. Taleb Ibrahim is surely one of the infamous ones. Of the few instances the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem spoke to the media for example, they were in press conference type meetings rather than debate talk show types. Still, he managed to wipe out new countries when he spoke.
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