Chapter Two - part four

    James spent the next couple of days learning as much as he could about the current situation in Syria. This wasn't the sort of thing he had expected to be doing. Actually he had never even dreamed of being involved in anything like this. Finally Sabella was satisfied that James was as ready as he would get. The main U.N. negotiators weren't happy about any of this, but it was the only thing that seemed to have any chance of working at the moment. After the Prime Minister of Syria and most of the Cabinet had been killed in a rocket attack a few weeks ago; the last Syrian government had totally collapsed. The only hope they had left now was in getting some of the many groups fighting inside Syria to come together quickly and form a new government. The problem was that all of them wanted to be the one in control and none of them had enough support among the people to hold on for long even if they did get control. James still didn't see how he could change any of that, but he had to try since they had asked for his help. He still wasn't sure why the Syrians would have asked for him, but he might soon find out. His first meeting with them was scheduled for the next day.

   The meetings were all being carried out within a well secured and heavily guarded NATO area. That secured area was where most of the negotiators and diplomats stayed, even many of those from Syria itself. It was just too dangerous for anyone associated with any government to be outside that secure area. Even with heavy armor and guards it wasn't safe to move around in Syria. It was actually safer for the NATO troops if they moved in open vehicles, so that everyone could see they were only NATO troops. It made no difference who you were or where you went, if you weren't a member of the NATO troops you could easily become a target. Those who came in to negotiate took great risks just to get there. They normally moved in heavily armed groups until they reached the immediate area. Then NATO would meet them and quickly escort that group inside the secured area. It was very hard to get all of the different groups inside at one time. James arrival had provided no help with that. His first meeting was short two key people, because they were attacked and driven back before they could reach the NATO escort to safety. Still he had six different leaders who made it, including the one who seldom even tried to come.

      Sargon Najjar, known as 'The Lion of Syria', was crucial to any hope of successful negotiations. He had earned the nickname by being ferocious in battle. He controlled a huge part of Syria. He wasn't as strong in Damascus itself, but he was still feared even there. His fighters were among the best armed and best trained in the country. It was in the areas he controlled that Aadila had been able to do the most towards rebuilding. Few of the other factions wanted to risk his anger towards them. The biggest problem with him was that he had no use for anyone outside his small circle of power. He trusted only a few of those people completely and nobody else at all. The people of Syria not only feared him, they respected him. He seldom was involved in battles that caused civilians to be killed or injured. When he was, it was always because he had been attacked first. He was very careful to direct his attacks at only those he wanted to kill. The Lion was also very good at killing when he did attack. He was the last of the six groups to arrive for the first meeting. Including himself he came in with only four men. They were all heavily armed and James had little doubt that all of them were very good with those weapons.

   James had greeted each group as they were escorted into the secured area. Once inside the area each group was taken to a separate room to wait until everyone arrived. Only then would the actual meeting begin. Then a NATO soldier would be sent to each group to inform them of the meeting time and escort only two from each group to the meeting room. Even the smallest detail could cause everything to be a wasted effort and the meeting could dissolve even before it began. The girls hadn't been happy with James over any of his new ideas. James going out to greet each group at the entrance to the secure area wasn't exactly safe. James had just smiled and told the girls they had to trust him first, if they wanted these men to trust him. That hadn't helped their mood any, but it had silenced their complaints. James waited patiently until Sargon and his men arrived. He already knew they would be the last group in today. After greeting them James had moved back into position to wait, just as if the others were still coming.

   That had two purposes. James wanted to see the reaction of the Lion and he also didn't want to give him anything he hadn't given the rest. James got very little in the way of reaction. Sargon did smile slightly as he moved off with the escort to the waiting area. That was enough to convince James that he knew there would be no other groups arriving today. James waited a good amount of time and then he returned to the main building. He told nobody what he thought. This was all new to him and he figured it was best to just let things play out and see what happened. Aadila was relieved to see him return, but Sabella was still ticked about his cavalier attitude. James knew they were both worried about his safety, just in their own ways. He hadn't gone out there because he wanted to go. He had gone to show that he was willing to put his life at risk to meet with these men. He figured until he showed them he was willing to take some risks too; they would never be able to risk truly trusting him.

   Once back at the main building, which was more of a hardened underground bunker than a building, it was time to try and begin the meeting. James took his seat at the table with Aadila on his left and Sabella on the right. Ambassador to Syria, Raffia from the United States and two more U.N. negotiators took up positions on the other end of the table. The remainder of the seating was along the long sides of the table. There were now only six chairs on each side instead of the eight they had hoped to fill. Normally the seating was arranged and marked, but James had asked them to put up no names this time. He wanted to see how the different leaders would arrange themselves. James believed that watching how they handled that minor detail might give him a better idea of what to expect from each of them during the negotiations. That was assuming they managed to make it that far! Up to now the most they had managed to get together and talking was two or three leaders at a time. While that might eventually prove useful, in the short term it was a wasted effort. None of these different groups had enough power to control or even influence any of the others. None of them were willing to give in to another on anything major either; not at the risk of losing what little power they already had. Negotiations had been going on for years with very little to show for it. Occasionally a government was formed, but those seldom proved to be more than a shadow of the U.N. with no real power or influence on the Syrian people or situation as a whole.