Freedom

Following the recent assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri -- and decades of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon -- hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Beirut, suspecting Syrian involvement in Hariri's murder and demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops. It was an unprecedented display of Lebanese solidarity. FRONTLINE/World reporter Kate Seelye -- the daughter of an American diplomat who has lived in Lebanon and Syria for much of her life -- navigates the forces in play and asks whether democracy or war will be next for Lebanon. read more

Read our series of reports from the Middle East written in the weeks leading up to the May 17 broadcast.
May 10, 2005 Syria: Measuring the Mood in Damascus Kate Seelye gauges the mood in the Syrian capital with regard to the country's role in Lebanon and fear of reprisals from Washington. read more

May 3, 2005 Sunday at the Castle With Walid Our reporters interview de facto opposition leader Walid Jumblatt at his ancestral castle in the Chouf Mountains, southeast of Beirut. read more

April 26, 2005 Border Town: Stopping the Insurgents Kate Seelye reports on tensions at the Syria-Iraq border and finds out what the Syrian government is doing to clamp down on insurgents. read more

April 22, 2005 Part 1: At Home in the Garden of Eden Watch scenes from Kate Seelye's personal documentary about growing up in and working in the Middle East. read more
Part 2: The Warning Series editor Stephen Talbot reports from Beirut, where he talks with a survivor of a car bombing about Lebanon's chances for independence. read more

April 12, 2005 Notes From the Road to DamascusOur reporters leave Beirut and head across the mountains to the Syrian border to watch a Syrian army in retreat. read more