Syria after Hariri

RAFIK HARIRI has joined a pantheon of modern Middle Eastern statesmen -- King Faisal Al Saud, President Anwar Sadat, and Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin -- who dared to challenge the status quo and paid dearly for their vision. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from every social echelon, religious affiliation, and ethnic background came to his funeral Wednesday, marking the occasion with unprecedented national unity and defying those who manipulate internal tensions in order to justify Syria's occupation.

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Given the very real possibility that fear will seep back into the Lebanese polity and in light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, the international community should sustain Lebanese resolve and join the opposition's call for Syria's immediate and full withdrawal.

Hariri dedicated his life to Lebanon's rebirth; his death may secure the country's freedom and restore its badly tarnished democratic institutions but only if his old friends in foreign capitals -- Washington, Paris, and Riyadh -- work in concert and deny his assassins their objective: silencing the nascent opposition.y

For more than 25 years, Hariri championed an independent, free, and sovereign Lebanon. He did so not as an expatriate but as a participant in endless cease-fire negotiations, interim arrangements, and finally the Taif Accord, which ended the country's 15-year civil war. In peace, he left an even greater legacy, leading his country through a tortuous postwar reconstruction and restoring Beirut's former glory as a premier tourist destination.

But he will be remembered most for his last act in politics. He resigned in October 2004 after Syrian pressure led Lebanon's Parliament to amend the Constitution and renew the tenure of Damascus's devoted proxy president, Emile Lahoud. Many contend that Hariri's principled stand cost him his life.

Tragically, Lebanon's recent history is littered with scores of unsolved assassinations, many attributed to Damascus. With their own credibility at stake, Bashar Assad and Emile Lahoud must accept offers of international assistance and find those complicit in and responsible for Hariri's death.

Pinpointing responsibility will take time. In the interim, and given official Lebanese stonewalling, President Bush has, quite rightly, withdrawn the US ambassador in Damascus. French President Jacques Chirac should follow suit. So should Tony Blair.

As former diplomats in the region, we would normally champion dialogue. But Syria has abused the process. President Bashar Assad holds high-level meetings and sends representatives to international forums. There is, however, a peculiar disregard for follow-through.

Both Syria and Lebanon were parties to last week's Riyadh Declaration, which culminated several days of counterterrorism meetings in Saudi Arabia. They must abide by the terms of that communiqué, which stipulated that there is no justification for terrorist acts and that signatories should work together to combat it. Both Syria and Lebanon demand that the UN enforce scores of resolutions aimed at Israel, yet officials in both capitals continue to defy UNSC 1559 on the flimsiest of pretenses.   Continued...