Free Republic

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, a strong critic of Syria's control in Lebanon who left Monday for a meeting with President Bush (news - web sites), has emerged as a key opposition figure whose influence cuts across sectarian lines in this religiously diverse nation. The soft-spoken 84-year-old patriarch, head of the 900,000-member Maronite Catholic Church, began criticizing Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs when few dared challenge the authority of the pro-Syria government and its Syrian backers. His first major salvo came in September, months before Lebanon was thrust into the spotlight with the Feb. 14 assassination of former...

An emboldened Lebanese opposition mobilized more than 800,000 people to demand an end to Syrian military domination of Lebanon, hurling a potent challenge to the Syrian-backed government here. Beirut city official Mounib Nassereddine said the estimate of 800,000 did did not include demonstrators who were still arriving from all parts of the country ahead of the rally. Thousands of Lebanese had made their way throughout the morning to the capital by car, bus and boat, heading for Martyrs Square and the grave of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, assassinated exactly one month ago in a bomb blast. Lebanese television aired...

Who on Earth wants to be known as the last foe of freedom? Not Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who Thursday joined a chorus of leaders telling Syrian President Bashar Assad to end his nation's three-decade occupation of Lebanon. Not Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who abruptly announced plans to hold the first free, multiparty election in his country's history. Not President Mahmoud Abbas, whose path to Palestinian independence is now blocked less by Israel than by peace-averse militant groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas. And certainly not the brave peoples of Afghanistan, of Georgia, of Ukraine, of Iraq,...

President Bush has given Syria a "non-negotiable" deadline to pull all of its troops and agents out of Lebanon by May to pave the way for free parliamentary elections. "The subject that is most on my mind right now is getting Syria out of Lebanon, and I don't mean just the troops out of Lebanon, I mean all of them out of Lebanon, particularly the secret service out of Lebanon -- the intelligence services," he told members of the New York Post editorial board in an interview yesterday. "This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out. ... I don't...

Czechoslovakia had its Velvet Revolution, the former Soviet republic Georgia the Rose Revolution, and Ukraine an Orange Revolution. In Lebanon, at least according to a State Department official, a less-colorful but catchy "Cedar Revolution" may be under way. The reference to Lebanon's majestic trees -- celebrated in the Bible as a symbol of well-being -- came Monday from Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky. Lebanon is struggling to get out from under the control of Syria. "In Lebanon, we see growing momentum for a Cedar Revolution that is unifying the citizens of that nation to the cause of true democracy and...