Khaddam recounts that on the same morning, he had an appointment with Assad and found him “agitated and tense.” He heard Assad’s account of the meeting directly:
“I had Rafik Hariri with me, and I spoke to him clearly and frankly in the presence of the officers. I told him that he was not permitted to work toward bringing in a president other than Emile Lahoud. I am the one who chooses who governs Lebanon, and whoever opposes me, I will break his bones.”
Khaddam says he was surprised by these remarks and responded to the president:
“You are speaking to the Prime Minister of Lebanon, who represents the Sunni Muslims in his country. Have you considered the impact of your words if they become known through the media? How can you address the Prime Minister of Lebanon in the presence of these officers?”
At that point, according to the account, Assad calmed down and asked his vice president to invite Hariri to visit him “to erase the consequences” of the meeting.
The memoirs add that Hariri initially refused, telling Khaddam by telephone: “After my last visit, I will not visit Damascus.” He then agreed to meet him in Bloudan, northwest of Damascus, where he appeared “deeply hurt” and said: “I will never forget my meeting with Bashar al-Assad for as long as I live.”
The account goes beyond this remark and traces the course of the extension itself. On August 18, 2004, Khaddam says Assad told him that he had decided not to extend Lahoud’s term:
“No one in the world supports Lahoud. The Arab countries do not support him, and the majority of Lebanese are opposed,”
adding that he had been “firm” with the Lebanese president.
But just three days later, while Khaddam was in France, Hariri called him to tell him that Assad had changed his mind and had summoned him to Damascus for a brief and tense meeting, during which Assad told him:
“You must define your position. Are you with Syria or against it?”
Khaddam reports that Hariri told him Walid Jumblatt had advised him to agree to the extension and then resign, and that Khaddam himself advised him to agree, leave Lebanon, and announce his resignation from abroad.
Khaddam records that Hariri, after informing Brigadier General Rustom Ghazaleh that he had agreed and leaving for Sardinia to meet his family, called him several days later and asked:
“If I return to Lebanon, is there any danger to my life?”
Khaddam reassured him that he had agreed to everything that had been asked of him and that Assad “still needed him, because the constitutional amendment had not yet been completed.”
