MERIP Media Resource List, February 28, 2005

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS on the following topics:
- Syria under pressure
- Lebanon's opposition to the Syrian presence

BASSAM HADDAD
Bassam Haddad is assistant professor of political science at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He is author of "The Formation and Development of Economic Networks in Syria: Implications for Economic and Fiscal Reforms, 1986-2000," in Networks of Privilege: The Politics of Economic Reform in the Middle East, (Palgrave-St. Martin's Press, 2004). Haddad said today: "Syria has put itself in a hole by committing a series of mistakes in Lebanon -- it is time for a comprehensive pullout. However, it should be noted that the Lebanese opposition's power, legitimacy and unity in Lebanon is being erroneously exaggerated amid the current euphoria. Additionally, the calls from the United States for Syria to adhere to UN resolutions are hypocritical given its own bypassing of the UN in its Iraq adventure and its support for Israel's defiance of dozens of UN resolutions for three decades."

LAURIE KING-IRANI
Laurie King-Irani, former editor of Middle East Report , has researched post-war institution building in Lebanon, where she lived and worked as a teacher and journalist from 1993-1998. She remains in close touch with colleagues in Beirut, and has recently written about the requirements for democratization in the Middle East. She is a researcher and consultant on municipal governance in the Middle East at the University of Victoria's Global Studies Centre in British Columbia. Commenting on the situation in Lebanon, she said today: "The heady events of the last two weeks in Beirut have ushered in new political and psychological realities in Lebanon, but it will be events, decisions and developments beyond Lebanon's borders that will influence the course of events from this point forward. Key questions are: where are Lebanon's Shia in the opposition? Are Amal and Hizballah -- parties with deep popular roots as well as strong ties to Damascus and Tehran -- going to stand aside, with or against the new movement? And what of the conundrum of the 350,000 Palestinian refugees remaining in Lebanon? The situation in Lebanon cannot be controlled by Washington or Tel Aviv if an indigenous democratic movement is to emerge. Whether that is what is truly emerging or not depends on how the Lebanese opposition manages the internal and external conflicts that are sure to arise in the coming weeks."
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