Lebanon ‘victory’ spurs Syrians to demand a voice

DAMASCUS, Syria — Demonstrations that brought down the government of neighboring Lebanon on Monday inspired Syria’s intellectuals and activists to issue new calls yesterday for greater political participation in their own country — a nation known for its strict limits on dissent.

“What happened [in Lebanon] was a huge victory not only for the Lebanese people, but for the people of this region,” said Wael Sawah, a Syrian political analyst and activist. “This is the first time a Cabinet resigns under popular pressure.”

Michel Kilo, another prominent Syrian opposition figure, said that the Lebanese protests could have a ripple effect in Syria.

“The people here will want a bigger role and will start demanding their rights more,” Mr. Kilo said.

Outside of the region, calls for Syria’s troop withdrawal from Lebanon continued to echo yesterday as they have since last month’s assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

In London, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Syria must pull its 14,000 troops out of Lebanon.

“The pressure of the international community is quite palpable on Syria,” she told reporters after a conference on Palestinian security. “They really should get about living up to their international obligations.”

Miss Rice also accused the Islamic Jihad terrorist group of planning last week’s suicide bombing in Tel Aviv from its offices in Syria.

“There is firm evidence that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, sitting in Damascus, not only knew about the attacks, but was involved in the planning,” Miss Rice told ABC News.

Meanwhile, Syria yesterday gave its clearest indication yet that it is willing to move its troops out of Lebanon.

President Bashar Assad said in an interview published yesterday that a troop pullout could come in a matter of months.

“It [the withdrawal] should be very soon and maybe in the next few months. Not after that. I can’t give you a technical answer. The point is the next few months,” he told Time magazine.

Mr. Sawah and Mr. Kilo, both outspoken critics of Syrian policy, were among 60 intellectuals, activists and writers who signed a letter last week to voice support for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and for Lebanese independence.

Syria has an official opposition made up of five registered political parties that generally fall in line with the reigning government of Mr. Assad.

The more outspoken opposition remains unorganized, relatively small, and comes together under the name of a civil society group that works on individual initiatives in a piecemeal fashion. Without a political party or clear organization, they have been left to act on shared opinions.

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