YESTERDAY'S ENEMY, TODAY'S FRIEND

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Lebanese Maronite leader Michel Aoun arrived in Damascus yesterday in the first visit of its kind to Syria, his former foe, since 1990. Aoun, a staunch critic of Syria's presence in Lebanon, served as interim prime minister and was Lebanon's commander of the army until he was ousted from office in October 1990 by a joint Syrian-Lebanese military operation, after which he lived in exile in Paris. He returned home in 2005 and within weeks allied his Free Patriotic Movement with pro-Syrian organisations including the Shia Hizbullah resistance movement. Aoun insisted earlier this week that his visit to Damascus was justified now that diplomatic ties had been established between the two countries.

(photo: AFP)