A strange confluence of Syrian circumstance

Weird. Here we see Arlen Specter PA-R (for retire please!) in Syria cozying up to the chinless opthalmologist while Patches Kennedy RI - D (for drink!) is off getting some coffee and receiving a pledge to free some dissidents. About those dissidents:

The seven opposition figures had signed a "Damascus Declaration" calling for radical change that united communist, nationalist, liberal and Kurdish parties and formed a National Council to press for its implementation.

I found it amusing that this occurs on the very same day that Nicolas Sarkozy announces that France is suspending all diplomatic relations with Syria. (Only our man Sarko, is cozying up to hottie Carla Bruni on holiday in Egypt. Now, who would you rather be cozying up with?)

France is to suspend diplomatic contacts with Syria, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced. Links will be restored only when France has proof that Syria is not blocking progress towards installing a consensus president in Lebanon, Mr Sarkozy said. Lebanon has been without a president since November, as rival pro- and anti- Syrian factions argue over who should fill the post. "I ask Syria to... work to create agreement," said Mr Sarkozy.

France "will not make any more contacts with Syria... as long as there is no proof of Syria's willingness to let Lebanon choose a consensus president," he told reporters, during a visit to Egypt.