And yet the recent Saudi kidnap victim Hariri steadfastly refuses to reestablish diplomatic relations with Syria to help facilitate the return of refugees. Nabih Berri is right that the stance is "unrealistic and unhelpful". Clearly not in the best interests of either country.

I don't understand why the people of Lebanon keep supporting the clearly compromised Hariri, especially after the Saudi debacle. Is there still a backlash against Syria for the assassination of Rafik Hariri ? Surely the long planned 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon showed who really benefited from the instability caused by his death (not to mention the exit of the Syrian military from Lebanon) and thus the likely culprit.