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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2028-2005Mar25.html
U.S. Probes Syria's Future With Assad's Opposition
(Washington Post) Robin Wright and Glenn Kessler - The Bush administration is reaching out to the Syrian opposition because of growing concerns that unrest in Lebanon could spill over and suddenly destabilize Syria. "They're taking seriously that a consequence of getting out of Lebanon will be the collapse of the Assad regime, and they're looking around for alternatives," said Flynt Leverett, former senior director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council under Bush. Syrian Americans who attended a meeting Thursday hosted by new State Department "democracy czar" Elizabeth Cheney urged the administration to take tentative steps to pressure Damascus, such as having Bush call for greater freedoms and release of political prisoners, said Farid Ghadry, president of the Syrian Reform Party.