Ghazaleh Re-marshals Syria's Allies to Contest Lebanon's Elections

Ghazaleh Re-marshals Syria's Allies to Contest Lebanon's ElectionsSyria's splintered allies are closing ranks under direct sponsorship of none other than Rustom Ghazaleh to coordinate a joint campaign to contest the May-June elections in northern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley, with Jamil Sayyed running for a Bekaa seat, An Nahar reported Wednesday.The report clearly shows that the Assad regime has not given up on its political influence in Lebanon despite the withdrawal of its army troops and intelligence personnel that was completed on April 26, according to separate official announcements from the Beirut and Damascus authorities.An Nahar said ex-Premier Omar Karami, who met President Assad in the Rawda Palace in Damascus on Monday, was later driven to see Brig. Gen. Ghazaleh at his new office in the countryside of the Syrian capital from where the former chief of Syria's military intelligence in Lebanon is "conducting the Lebanon file after Syria's withdrawal."Karami and Ghazaleh then drove to Al Sham hotel in central Damascus, where they had lunch in the company of north Lebanese and Bekaa legislators Jihad Samad and Nader Sukkar as well as retired Brig. Gen. Sayyed, who was forced to resign as Lebanon's Surete Generale chief in the turbulent aftermath of ex-Premier Hariri's assassination.The conferees debated the arrangements for the election battles in northern Lebanon, where Karami and Samad are running, and in the Bekaa, where Sukkar and Sayyed are standing. "Agreement was reached on the requirements of coordination in the two battles," An Nahar quoted knowledgeable sources as saying.Ghazaleh was the dreaded symbol of Syria's ruthless tutelage over Lebanon when he for years from headquarters in the Bekaa town of Anjar imposed presidents, prime ministers, cabinet ministers and parliament members.