So here we were, minding our own business, thinking the excitement had gone out of the whole Syria-Lebanon affair and that the year had seen every possible development there was. Thanks to Abdel Halim Khaddam, however, we had the farcical session of parliament in Damascus today to send off 2005 with a big bang.

It occurs to me today that The 25th Hour in fact accurately describes the Syrian regime's conduct; indeed, it only seems to react when it is already too late, beyond the 11th hour.

Some of the comments I made this afternoon during a general meeting at Chatham House held just before the UN Security Council session on the Mehlis report.

Most Syrians have for a long time been opposed to the regime’s handling of Lebanon, upset not by the departure from Lebanon but rather upset by the mishandling in the last years.