More Coverage of Lebanon and Syria

Packed funeral for journalist

A huge portrait of slain Lebanese journalist and lawmaker Gibran Tueni loomed over the crowds outside his newspaper's office, awaiting his funeral procession yesterday. "The difference between darkness and light is a word," it said.

Lebanese journalist, critic of Syria, killed in car bombing

For six months, Lebanese politician and journalist Gibran Tueni had taken refuge in France, worried that he would be assassinated in his homeland.

Syria voices defiance on UN inquiry

Syrian President Bashar Assad hinted yesterday he would not agree to the demands of a UN probe into the killing of a top Lebanese politician, setting up a possible showdown between Syria and the United Nations.

Syria releases 190 in effort to ease international pressure

Syrian President Bashar Assad freed 190 political prisoners yesterday in another sign his regime is trying to head off international pressure over its apparent involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria on the hot seat in UN investigation

It reads like a spy novel, laying out an elaborate web of phone calls, surveillance and even a fake assassin intended to throw investigators off the trail.

Syria faces threat of sanctions

Under mounting international pressure, Syria could become the next Libya, a pariah battered by years of economic sanctions and political isolation.

Syria on the defensive

Syria faced the prospect of political and economic isolation Friday, a day after the release of a United Nations report implicating senior Syrian officials in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Names omitted from report

The UN probe into Rafik Hariri's assassination raised eyebrows Friday - not just for what it said, but what it left unsaid.

Official's suicide raises suspicions

For years, Lebanese and Syrians alike mentioned his name only in whispers. As the head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon for two decades, Ghazi Kenaan wielded such power that it was unwise to invoke him carelessly.

Assassination attempt fails

Lebanon's deputy prime minister survived an assassination attempt yesterday, marking the first time a pro-Syrian politician has been targeted in the wave of bombings that has plagued this country in recent months.

Blast kills Lebanese politician

George Hawi survived Lebanon's fratricidal 15-year civil war. He made it through the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. And he outlasted Soviet purges of the Lebanese Communist Party.

Making a case for democracy

Bolstered by the victory of pro-American parties in Lebanon's legislative elections, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Arab leaders yesterday that the U.S. would no longer tolerate repressive regimes in the name of keeping political stability.

Lebanese vote for anti-Syria alliance

An anti-Syrian alliance led by the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri appeared to have swept the final round of Lebanon's legislative elections yesterday, securing a majority in the new parliament.

Lebanon's legislative shocker

He's the Ross Perot of Lebanese politics.

No talk of reform from Syria leader

When Syrian President Bashar Assad told the world in March that he would withdraw his troops from neighboring Lebanon, he also promised a "great leap" of democratic reform in Syrian society.

'Samir will not die'

As soon as he was assassinated in a car bombing Thursday, journalist Samir Kassir became a martyr for those seeking to rid Lebanon of the last vestiges of Syrian influence.

Lebanon blast kills anti-Syria journalist

Samir Kassir was not afraid -- not when the head of Lebanese state security threatened him, not when his passport was confiscated, not even when intelligence agents tailed him around the clock for months.

Lebanon's slain leader's son wins Parliament seat

In Lebanon's clannish politics, Saad Hariri has one of the most important qualifications to become the country's new prime minister: He's from the right family.

Hariri's son rises to power in Beirut

A slate of candidates led by the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri appeared to have swept the initial round of Lebanon's parliamentary elections yesterday, the first balloting held in 30 years without the shadow of civil war or Syrian military domination.

Syria ends security ties with U.S.

Under constant pressure from the Bush administration to prevent fighters and funds from reaching Iraqi insurgents, Syria has ended its military and security cooperation with Washington.

Exiled Lebanese leader returns in time for elections

His enemies call him "Napolaoun," a reference to his days as a renegade army commander who declared himself head of the Lebanese government in the late 1980s.

Lebanon sets dates for parliamentary elections

A day after the last Syrian troops departed, the Lebanese government yesterday set a schedule for parliamentary elections that many had feared would be delayed by political squabbling.

A door opens in Lebanon

After 29 years of military dominance over its smaller neighbor, Syria withdrew the last of its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon yesterday.

Lebanon's Cabinet endorses diplomatic ties with Syria

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) _ Lebanon's Cabinet has approved the establishment of diplomatic ties with Syria and the opening of a Lebanese embassy in Damascus.

A QUESTION OF DEMOCRACY

Reform hinges on Syria's leader

The president known as Dr. Bashar likes to dine out. An eye doctor by training, Bashar Assad is often spotted with his wife and three kids in the homier restaurants of the Syrian capital.

Lebanon PM quits - again

It's the latest act in Lebanon's political theater of the absurd.

Deadly days in Lebanon

The string of bombings that has rocked Lebanon in recent days could be even more destabilizing than the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Suicide bomber blamed for Hariri's death

Lebanese investigators have concluded that former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden truck, according to two security officials familiar with the probe.

Thousands demand Syria leave Lebanon

In Lebanon's battle of dueling demonstrations, the score has just been tied.

Beirut crowd shows support for Syrian role

They came in rickety buses, in overloaded cars and on foot, along roads surging with faith and fervor.

Following events, far from home

Events in Charles Hassan's native Lebanon got him out of bed before sunrise in Palisades Park, N.J., yesterday to turn on a satellite news channel for live pictures of the pro-Syrian rally in Beirut.

Voices raised for Syria

The counter-revolution has begun.

Syria pledges troop pullback

Syrian President Bashar Assad pledged Saturday to pull back his 14,000 troops to the "Syrian-Lebanese border," leaving open the possibility that Syrian soldiers will remain inside Lebanon and setting himself on a potential collision course with the United States.

Syria finds itself on the defensive

Syria is under pressure as never before, and for once it is buckling.

Resignations in Beirut

Under intense public pressure over its allegiance to Syria, the Lebanese government abruptly resigned yesterday, even though it appeared likely to have survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote.

analysis

For Syria, time to change may be running out

As pressure mounts on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon, the Syrian regime is adopting an old tactic: It is trying to wait out the criticism until the world's attention shifts.

Lebanon funeral turns into anti-Syria rally

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese turned out Wednesday to bury their assassinated former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, in an outpouring of grief that turned into a rally against the Syrian and Lebanese governments.

A killing alters the landscape

The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will irrevocably change the Syrian-Lebanese relationship and might hasten a Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon, analysts say.

Car bomb kills Lebanon's former PM

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a billionaire businessman-turned-politician who led Lebanon for 10 years and spearheaded the rebuilding of Beirut, was killed Monday in a massive bombing that destroyed his armored motorcade.