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International-UN-NGOs

Egypt, Saoodis unite against Syria ahead of Arab summit

2008-02-25

RIYADH - Egyptian and Saudi leaders meet Sunday to coordinate their position on the next Arab summit amid strained ties with its Syrian host over Lebanon’s political standoff and fears that the summit is doomed to failure. An Arab Summit doomed to failure? Say it ain't so! In their meeting, Egypt’s President Hosny Mubarak and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia are expected to make a long-awaited crucial decision on the Damascus summit scheduled for March. By deciding their level of participation in the summit, both regional powers, are setting the tone for many Arab countries, which are likely to follow suit. Ahead of his visit to Riyadh, Mubarak stressed the importance of his alliance with the Saudis. ‘Saudi-Egyptian ties are the mainstay of pan-Arab cooperation,’ Mubarak told Saudi Al Riyadh newspaper. Lebanon’s political ordeal is not only polarizing its own rival blocs, but also major Arab rivals. Riyadh and Cairo with their backing of the Lebanese majority government seem to have intractable disagreements with Syria, which backs the opposition. Mubarak and Abdullah will reaffirm their declared position that the election of a Lebanese president - a post that has been vacant since November - is a prerequisite to a successful Arab summit. But diplomatic sources in Riyadh refused to say whether Mubarak and Abdullah would boycott the summit in response to Syria’s perceived interference in Lebanon’s domestic politics and hindering the election of a consensual president. So it's just posturing, much like the Arab summit in general ... Syria has recently lashed at the Cairo-Riyadh axis and insisted that the summit is going ahead irrespective of their level of participation. ‘Syria rejects political blackmail by some Arab and international circles to affect the upcoming 20th summit in March,’ Syria’s former Information Minister, Mahdi Dakhlallah told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. ‘Not a single Arab summit has brought all Arab leaders together,’ Dakhlallah said. ‘The summit will be held as scheduled but there is a problem with the level of representation. It is certain that many leaders will attend,’ he added. Just a ringing endorsement, isn't it ... Summits are often marred by differences between Arab countries. Libya boycotted the Riyadh summit in 2007 while the 2005 summit, which was to be hosted by Tunisia and eventually held in Cairo, was marred by differences over democratization and ties with Israel.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syrian official says war with Israel will not be conventional

2007-06-19

Introducing the new arab buzzword. Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST Former Syrian information minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said Monday that if a war broke out with Israel, it would be a war of Resistance™ and not a conventional war that Israel was accustomed to winning. The Syrian official's remarks confirmed fears in the Israeli defense establishment that Syria was preparing to use Hizbullah-like guerrilla warfare tactics in a future conflict. "I believe that if a war breaks out, it will not be a conventional war - the kind of war that Israel is used to winning swiftly," Dakhlallah, said in an interview on NBN TV which was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). "It will be a war of Resistance™, in which the armed forces may be defending the rear lines of the Resistance™." According to Dakhlallah, terror Resistance™ was the "method that opened before the Arabs the path to victory" and succeeded in defeating Israel. President Bashar Assad has said that Resistance™ appears to be the only way to liberate the Golan Heights. "When Israel [fought] armies, it reached Beirut and the outskirts of Damascus, but ever since the Arabs have begun using Resistance™, the Israelis are building a security wall to hide behind," he said. "They are the ones who say it is a security wall. Therefore, even though I don't know the scenario of this war, I know it will definitely not be a conventional war." "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means". Senior officers in the Northern Command warned recently of the possibility that Syria would launch terror attacks along the border in an effort to draw Israel into a conflict. The officers pointed to the large amounts of money Syria had invested in replicating Hizbullah military tactics, particularly in establishing additional commando units and fortifying its short and long-range missile array. Syria, the IDF has warned, had also built fake villages along the border that could be used to draw Israel into an asymmetric war like the that which the IDF encounters in combat against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as against the Hizbullah in Lebanon.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hariri Report Shocks Syria

2005-10-22

A UN report implicating high Syrian and Lebanese officials in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri sent shockwaves in Middle East political circles. Syria denounced the report as “politically biased” while the United States sought a UN follow-up. The document put Syria on a collision course with the UN Security Council, where the United States, Britain and France have been laying the groundwork for crippling economic sanctions against the regime of President Bashar Assad. While the UN findings did not directly implicate Bashar, the report quoted a witness as saying that Assef Shawkat, Bashar’s brother-in-law and the Syrian military intelligence chief, forced a man to tape a claim of responsibility for Hariri’s killing 15 days before it occurred. Syria said the report was shocking and its findings were contrary to the expectations that the investigation would be balanced and based on clear and tangible evidence. “Syria is going to set up a high-ranking committee comprising political and legal experts to study the report and finalize an official reply to be sent to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the matter,” Elias Murad, editor-in-chief of Al-Baath, said. Syrian satellite TV quoted Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah as saying that “the report is 100 percent politicized as it is based on fabrications and accounts of some witnesses known for being enemies of our country.”

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria rejects accusations

2005-10-21

Syria on Friday hotly dismissed a U.N. report linking embattled President Bashar Assad's regime to the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, and Damascus geared up to fight growing Western sentiment to punish it with economic sanctions. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telegraphed the Bush administration's next move by declaring that Syria must be held accountable for the slaying of former Lebanese said during a visit to Alabama. Actually, she spoke. She didn't use a telegraph. The U.N. report is the latest development in what has been an extremely bad diplomatic patch for the authoritarian Syrian regime, which is facing intensifying censure from many parts of the world over its conduct in the Middle East. The findings were also likely to deepen explosive political divisions between Lebanon's pro- and anti-Syrian groups. Syria's foes there hailed the report as a long-awaited truth-telling about Damascus' complicity in the assassination and its interference in Lebanese affairs. Pro-Syrian politicians vilified the findings. Hariri's murder touched off street protests in Lebanon and heated up international pressures on Damascus, forcing Assad's regime to end a nearly three-decade military occupation of its neighbor. Syria also has been under increasing U.S. pressure to stop interfering in Lebanon, to shut its border with Iraq to anti-American terrorists insurgents and to halt support for Palestinian terrorist militant groups. Syria has denied doing any of those things. "Cetainly not!" "This is the worst period in Syria's modern history," said Hazem Saghieh, a senior Lebanese columnist with the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat. "I do not rule out a confrontation with the international community and sanctions on Syria." While the U.N. findings did not directly incriminate Assad, the report cited a witness who said Assef Shawkat, the president's brother-in-law and Syria's military intelligence chief, forced a man to tape a claim of responsibility for Hariri's killing 15 days before it occurred. The report also said Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa lied in a letter to the investigating commission. Al-Sharaa lied, Hariri died! Assad's government repeated its claim of innocence in the Hariri killing and declared that the U.N. document was heavily politicized because of Syria's staunch anti-Israeli position. Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahaf Mahdi Dakhlallah said the report lacked hard evidence and was based on witnesses "who are well known for their anti-Syria stands." The report also said Lebanese intelligence officials helped organize the Hariri killing. It further said Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, got a phone call minutes before the assassination from the brother of a prominent member of a pro-Syrian group who also called one of four Lebanese generals arrested later in the killing. Lahoud's office issued a statement "categorically" denying that the president received such a phone call. "There is no truth to it," the statement said. In Damascus, few Syrians were willing to comment, but those who did took the Assad regime's view of the U.N. report for fear of being next. "This is a big fabrication," said Basil Deheim, a 26-year-old marketing executive sitting with friends at a packed coffee shop. "I don't believe it," he added to the nearby secret police, pointing to a large-screen TV showing continuous coverage of the probe on an Arab satellite channel. No other customer was watching. In one of the most critical parts of the U.N. report, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis said Syria must cooperate if the investigation is to succeed. So I guess we know the result there. The inquiry, which was ordered by the U.N. Security Council on April 8, was extended for a second time by Secretary-General Kofi Annan — this time until Dec. 15. Even before the report, Syria was suffering growing isolation, with an unstated moratorium in place on visits by high-ranking Western officials and the shelving of a European Union-Syria trade agreement. Syria's relations with other Arab countries also have deteriorated. The drive for sanctions against the Assad regime was under full steam. Earlier this week, a U.S. official and two U.N. diplomats said the United States and France were preparing Security Council resolutions critical of Syria for its role in the Hariri assassination and its alleged arming of anti-Israeli militias in Lebanon. Sanctions would further weaken Syria's struggling economy. But strengthen its smuggling economy. Joshua Landis, a University of Oklahoma professor who is spending the year in Damascus as a Fulbright scholar, said Syria's political establishment is divided on how to deal with the U.N. report. He said hard-liners believe Syria is in a strong position, arguing the United States is mired in the Iraqi insurgency and its failure to curb Iran's nuclear program. Those who are more moderate, he said, contend Washington is succeeding in creating a new order in the Middle East despite problems in Iraq. They also say Syria no longer has any allies and must remake itself by opening up the economy and cooperating with its neighbors, he said. Landis put Assad in the moderate camp. "He wants to modernize but he wants to keep an authoritarian state structure." He wants to be like China? Or the EU?

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria rejects US charge on Iraq

2005-09-13

Syria has rejected US accusations that it allows fighters to sneak into Iraq, saying Washington's "threat" of using force was part of relentless pressure on Damascus. "It is regrettable that such language should come from the ambassador of a great power who is supposed to show more commitment to the norms of international relations," Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said on Monday. The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, fired a strong warning to Syria earlier during the day over help that Washington accuses the Damascus government of giving to radical groups in Iraq. "Our patience is running out with Syria," Khalilzad told a press conference in Washington. When asked how the United States could respond, he said "all options are on the table", including military. "I would not like to elaborate more, they should understand what I mean," he added. "There is a threat of aggression there, and a style which is reminiscent of colonial eras and cold and hot wars," Dakhlallah retorted. "Moreover, there are old, groundless accusations relating to the Iraqi-Syrian borders. Syria has exerted efforts almost beyond its capacity as a small and developing country to protect the border because Iraq's stability is a Syrian concern, not just an Iraqi concern. Stability is indivisible and dangers most often come from two directions. In any event, we have gotten used to this language from the United States. It represents a clear escalation in a chain of successive pressures on Syria."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria Denies Scud Missile Claims

2005-06-05

Syria's information minister on Saturday denied Israeli claims his country is developing new weapons and test-fired Scud missiles last week, calling the accusations an "expression of Israel's hostile intentions." "Nope. Nope. Never happened." In remarks carried by Syria's official news agency, Mahdi Dakhlallah said the Israeli allegations were also part of a pressure campaign against Syria. Israeli military officials said that Syria test-fired three Scud missiles late last week, reinforcing Israeli worries about Damascus' ability to deliver a missile-borne chemical attack against Israeli civilian targets. They said one of the missiles broke up over Turkey. The Turkish military said apparent missile debris from Syria landed on two agricultural villages in the southern province of Hatay, causing no injuries or damage. A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said Syria had apologized for the incident and assured Turkey it was "just an accident" that occurred during routine military training. "Nothing to see here. Move along..." Israeli security officials said the missile test was Syria's first since 2001. They said they saw the launches as a Syrian gesture of defiance to the United States and the United Nations, which pushed Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after the February assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a critic of Syria's influence in Lebanon. Lebanon is in the midst of parliamentary elections that the anti-Syrian opposition hopes to win and end Damascus' control of the legislature. Dakhlallah said the Israeli accusations were part of efforts to pressure Syria. "It's normal for a state to possess all defense potentials, especially if it is in a region shrouded with tension, aggression and continuous Israeli occupation, in addition to Israel's unbridled desire to expand the circle of aggression and occupation," he said. He warned against the danger posed by Israel's nuclear arsenal, and called on the international community to free the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction.

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Arabia

Crown Prince Abdullah on reconciliation visit to Syria

2005-05-10

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, on a regional tour that earlier took him to Syria for reconciliation after months of tension, met with the Jordanian leader to discuss Mideast peacemaking and Iraq. The Saudi prince held a 90-minute meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, the third stop in a regional swing that has also taken him to Egypt. Saudi diplomats, insisting on anonymity, said Abdullah briefed regional leaders on his recent visits to the United States and France, but offered no further details. Earlier in Damascus, the Saudi prince held talks with President Bashar Assad in the first meeting since ties strained two months ago over strong Saudi pressure on Damascus to pull out of Lebanon or risk damaging relations. Syria ended 29 years of military presence in Lebanon on April 26. Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said that Abdullah's visit was within the framework of "continued coordination" between the two Arab countries. He declined to elaborate. Asked whether Saudi Arabia was working to improve strained relations between Syria and the United States, Dakhlallah said: "When Arabs meet, they discuss issues concerning Arabs and Arab relations."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria Begins Final Pullout

2005-04-08

Syria began yesterday the final phase of a troop pullout ending 29 years of military presence in Lebanon where consultations for a new Cabinet to oversee much-awaited legislative elections gathered momentum. As the remaining Syrian forces officially began their final return home, Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah vowed that the troops would complete the pullout well before an April 30 deadline. "The Syrian pullout may take place well before the end of the month, just as it did for the first phase that was due to end at the end of March and actually wrapped up in the middle of the month," Dakhlallah was quoted by the Lebanese press as saying in an interview with US-funded Radio Sawa. A senior Lebanese military official said the final phase had begun for the remaining 8,000 troops in the eastern Bekaa Valley where Syria has pulled back all its remaining forces in Lebanon.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Quick Syrian Pullout Has Substantial Risks

2005-03-03

A speedy Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon may fulfill the dreams of many Lebanese, but lifting the tight lid Syria has kept on its smaller neighbor carries risks: a security vacuum and possible return to sectarian disputes that bedeviled this country throughout its history. Oh. That's that, then. Lets call the whole thing off. The outgoing pro-Syrian premier even warned that the Lebanese military, built up by the Syrians, could again splinter into warring factions — a comment that angered some Lebanese and prompted the army to insist it is capable of maintaining unity. But what does the army know, anyway? Another question is how Hezbollah, the anti-Israeli guerrilla movement based in southern Lebanon, would react to the withdrawal of Syria, one of its principal backers. The well-armed Shiite militia, which is also supported by Iran, has so far stayed out of the fray in Lebanon's political crisis — but could feel its position is threatened if Damascus pulls out. Duh. That's the WHOLE POINT. Hezbollah should be disbanded, denatured, declawed, defanged, and dumped in the Marianas Trench. The LAST thing we should do is bow to the fear of Hezbollah's hard boyz. The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a Muslim, has united Lebanese Christians and Muslims in grief and anger at Syria and its allied Lebanese government, which the opposition accuses of involvement in his killing. All those pix of the Lebanese people holding Korans and rosaries together proves the sectarian strife, yes? As the world pressed on with its demands — President Bush on Wednesday pointedly ordered Syria out of Lebanon in the strongest statement yet — the risk remains that such unprecedented unity could evaporate if Syrian forces leave and Lebanese return to their sectarian-based fractious politics. In a sign of Lebanon's volatility, followers of ex-Prime Minister Omar Karami targeted a rival politician's office in his hometown of Tripoli on Monday, leaving one person dead. Um, no. That's more "insurgent" Baathists doing what they know best, killing in cold blood. Syria has entered the fray many times during Lebanon's recent history by quelling clashes, removing Lebanese political opponents and installing government and military allies. In 1976, the first year of a 15-year civil war, Syrian forces crossed into Lebanon to save Christians from possible defeat at the hands of Muslim and Palestinian-backed leftist forces. In 1987, Muslim leaders requested Syrian troops move into Muslim west Beirut to stop militia street fighting. In July, Syria's top general here intervened after Lebanese troops killed six Shiite Muslim rioters to prevent a riot from spreading into Shiite-army fighting. "If Syria leaves Lebanon uncomfortable, will I still have my cushy job our situation be stable?" warned Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh, a staunch pro-Syrian. If Syria withdraws, he added last week, "it could say it is not responsible for security in this country, and tomorrow every party begins to do what it wants — and we know the Lebanese if they do what they want in politics. Within a week we will tear each other up." "Only Syria knows what's best for Lebabnon." A Syrian official alluded to possible security breaches. Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said after Hariri's assassination that previous Syrian withdrawals from Lebanese areas "resulted in a security vacuum that led to the explosions." Syria has long acted as a buffer, mediating political disputes and sending security forces to back Lebanese troops. They have also curbed Muslim militants as they did in Syria, a nation ruled by a secular Baath party that sees militant Islam as a threat. Or a willing partner in crime, depending. Last week, Karami enraged many by saying a Syrian withdrawal and implementation of a U.N. resolution to disarm anti-Israeli Hezbollah militants could reflect on Lebanon's army, which broke apart along sectarian lines during the civil war and was rebuilt with Syrian help to a force of 70,000 after the conflict. The army "is from the people and the people are divided," Karami said. "We've tried this before and the army disintegrated. Should we again go through this experience of this magnitude and damage?" Karami also asked who would disarm Shiite Hezbollah guerillas if Syria leaves. Hezbollah has stayed on the sidelines of Lebanon's recent polarization, but — with Syria's support — it has blocked attempts to send the Lebanese army into its territory in southern Lebanon, along the border with Israel, and refused to disarm until the conflict with Israel is resolved by the total annihilation of Israel and the Jooos. If an anti-Syrian government comes to power in Beirut and resolves to move its military into the south, Hezbollah could be roused to action. Farid El-Khazen, chairman of the American University of Beirut's political studies department, did not predict a return of civil war-era sectarian conflict. "Never before has Lebanon been as united as it is today," he said. "The unprecedented national consciousness on the issue of Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon has never been as strong since that formation of the state of Lebanon in the 1920s." Note: the academic IN BEIRUT sez things will be fine. But As'ad AbuKhalil, a Lebanese political science professor at California State University, warned of possible instability. "This won't be Ukraine of 2004, but maybe Lebanon of 1975," AbuKhalil said, referring to Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" that overturned a fraudulent election and circa-1975 Lebanon, which was wracked by political disputes. And the academic in the US is wringing his hands... But Lebanon's military is sounding optimistic. Armed forces Gen. Michel Suleiman, in apparent response to Karami's comments, said the army "faced grave events and emerged more cohesive to the point that it became a model in national unity."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria denies offer to pull out of Lebanon

2005-02-22

Syria has denied having offered to withdraw its approximately 16,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon, and officials in Damascus disclaimed remarks by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to the effect that Syrian President Bashir al-Assad had promised an imminent pullback of those forces. "President Assad stressed more than once his firm determination to go on with implementing the Taif agreement and achieve Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, in accordance with this agreement," Moussa had announced. But Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah told the BBC that this had been the result of a misunderstanding, and that his country's forces would merely be redeployed within Lebanon. Analysts speculated whether the apparent misunderstanding could signal divisions over policy in Damascus, where some believe a power struggle is underway between hardliners from the regime of al-Assad's father, former Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad, and more moderate elements that see a need for fundamental reforms in Syria. Bashir al-Assad last week appointed his brother-in-law, Brigadier-General Assaf Shawkat, as head of the powerful military intelligence service, replacing General Hassan Khalil, who had reached retirement age, according to the BBC. The news service quoted Syrian sources as saying that the move was intended to consolidate the ruling family's grip on the police and security apparatus.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Shock and anger in Lebanon over Hariri killing

2005-02-15

The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri Monday in a powerful explosion that targeted his heavily guarded convoy on Beirut's seaside front, plunged the country into a state of shock. Hariri's angry supporters took to the streets in Beirut and his hometown city of Sidon in south Lebanon. Dozens of other rushed to the American University Hospital where the mutilated body of the 61-year-old former prime minister was taken from the explosion site. In the confusion that followed the bombing, it took a few hours before Hariri's death was confirmed. Along with the former prime minister his long-time bodyguard and eight other people were killed. About 100 others people, including pro-Hariri Parliament member Bassel Fleihan, were injured. Calling him a "great martyr," Hariri's supporters angrily denounced Syria and the Lebanese authorities, saying that President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Omar Karami should have provided greater security. They demanded the departure of Karami's government. The crowd also shouted slogans against Syria, describing it as "the enemy of God." Hariri's elder son, Bahaa Eddine, urged for restraint as he tried to calm the protestors who were asking for revenge. "It is not the time to say any word," Bahaa Eddine said. Syria was quick in denouncing "the terrible criminal act" as President Bashar Assad described it in a statement. Assad extended his country's support of the Lebanese cabinet and people "during such dangerous circumstances." While Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa called on the Lebanese to be strong and refuse "any internal strife or foreign intervention," Syria's Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said "Lebanon's enemies are the ones to benefit from this crime." Qatar's al-Jazeera television broadcast a tape that showed a bearded man claiming to speak on behalf of a hitherto unknown Muslim fundamentalist group, "Jamaat al-Nasrat wal-Jihad-Bilad al-Sham" (Al Jihad's Partisans for Greater Syria). The group is believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. The man, identified as Ahmed Abu Adas, said he carried out the suicide attack against Hariri whom he described as "a Saudi agent" with the aim of "supporting our struggling brothers in the country of holy places (Saudi Arabia) and to avenge the martyrs who were killed by the security forces affiliated to the Saudi regime." He pledged that Monday's assassination would be "the prelude of many other martyrdom operations." Hariri has dual Lebanese-Saudi citizenship and is a close friend of the Saudi royal family. Abu Adas was quickly identified after he appeared on the tape by the Lebanese security forces, which said they stormed his house in Beirut's Tarik al-Jadida neighborhood. A statement by the Internal Security Forces said Abu Adas was a 24-year-old Palestinian who belongs to a Wahhabi group. It added that investigation were underway to determine whether he "detonated himself or participated with others" in assassinating Hariri. A well-informed source told United Press International that Abu Adas was believed to have carried out the suicide attack against Hariri and that DNA tests were being conducted to determine whether one of three mutilated and unidentified bodies belonged to him. The source said the bomber's neighbors saw him leave his home a few hours before the explosion. Such a claim by Abu Adas fell short of appeasing the Lebanese opposition which held the Lebanese authorities and Syria responsible for Hariri's assassination. In a statement after an emergency meeting at the palace of the late prime minister, opposition leaders, including Druze chief Walid Jumblat and former President Amin Gemayel said the Lebanese authorities and Syria as "the custody power in Lebanon" were "responsible of this and other similar crimes." The statement, read by former Ministry of Information Bassem Sabaa, called on the international community "to shoulder its responsibility toward Lebanon and form an international investigation committee" to look into "this crime in the absence of trust by the Lebanese in the authorities and all their services." The opposition leaders went a step further by calling for "the departure of the authority which lost its constitutional, popular and international legitimacy, the formation of a transition government and withdrawal of the Syrian troops" from Lebanon. Their appeal echoed a similar call by France which earlier Monday strongly condemned Hariri's assassination and demanded to open an international investigation. French President Jacques Chirac, who was a close and personal friend of Hariri for many years, was unlikely to keep quiet. Chirac, angered by Syria's pressures late last year that led to the renewal of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's mandate for three more years, was believed to have been behind United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 which called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon and dismantling of militias -- in a clear reference to Syria, Hezbollah and the Palestinian factions. Many unanswered questions remain. Was Abu Adas the suicide bomber? Are al-Qaida followers that powerful in Lebanon? Was Abu Adas used by some intelligence service or would an investigation reveal -- if ever possible -- other culprits? Disclosing the real assassins could be the only way to calm the Lebanese opposition and the international parties which have been pressuring Syria to withdraw and ease its grip on Lebanon. Monday's assassination of Hariri has ended an important chapter in Lebanon's post-war history and may still the controversy about his ambitious post-war reconstruction program that left the country with more than $30 billion in debts. Despite such accusations, Hariri, who spent 12 years in power after he was first named prime minister in 1992, was recently honored by the United Nations for turning Beirut's war-devastated downtown into a model city. One of the last things Hariri did before he died was to stop for a cup of coffee at one of downtown's coffee shops in the area he helped rebuild in the city he loved.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria Urges Dialogue, Rejects US Pressure

2005-02-04

Syria called yesterday for dialogue with the United States, rejecting as "futile" the mounting pressure on the regime from the administration of President George W. Bush. In his State of the Union policy speech largely focused on the Middle East, Bush admonished Syria, saying it should end its support for "terror" and open the door to freedom. But Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah told AFP: "American officials need to be convinced that the pressure on Syria is futile and that a strengthening of dialogue is the only path." Washington has slapped sanctions on Damascus, accusing it of sponsoring international terrorism and turning a blind eye to anti-American insurgents crossing the border into neighboring Iraq. Dakhlallah, whose government has about 14,000 troops stationed in neighboring Lebanon, lashed out at the Americans' use of their military might to bring about change in the region. "It is impossible to export freedom with tanks, planes and cannons," he said. "Freedom also means an end to occupation, the building of a world order based on democratic relations between nations."

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