Effetto domino in Siria

Dal quotidiano Haaretz:

More than 150 Syrian intellectuals on Wednesday signed a petition calling on Damascus to end its military occupation of Lebanon. The petition was sent to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"There is no more use of insisting on managing crises using old political solutions," the petition read. "Its time that Syrian adopt a new policy which will take into account new developments, especially the criminal assassination of Rafik al Hariri."

Several Syrian journalists assembled outside the Journalists' Union in Damascus on Wednesday morning. The gathering, however, was not a protest against the regime, but a show of solidarity with the Lebanese people after Hariri's assassination.

The Syrian opposition makes its voice heard periodically in letters it sends to Assad. The group has no real influence on Syrian policy, but criticism of such sensitive issues like Syria's presence in Lebanon is unprecedented.

The petition sent is the second in the past week. Four days ago Syrian intellectuals issued a letter to their Lebanese counterparts asking them not to exert too much criticism on Syria and not to hurt Syrian laborers working in Lebanon.

U.S. President George W. Bush demanded Wednesday that Syria withdraw its forces from Lebanon prior to parliamentary elections scheduled for May. Voices in Lebanon, however, are calling on authorities not to hold elections in the present atmosphere.

Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karama said Wednesday he would be willing to resign his post if anyone else would be willing to try and assemble a government, under the condition that it would win the parliament's approval.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Assad promised him that Syrian forces in Lebanon would be re-deployed, adding that he believed Assad would indeed carry out such a move.

Egypt is fearful that intense international pressure on Syria may have an effect on the rest of the Arab states.

Eh già, potrebbe avere effetto, eccome...