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• BBC: Syria Country Profile - includes a map, profiles of leaders, quick facts, and a timeline of key events.
• Wikipedia: Bashar al-Assad - profile of the Syrian president, who took office in July 2000. Bashar is the son Hafez al-Assad, the Baathist strongman who ruled the country from 1971 until his death in 2000.
• Council on Foreign Relations: Syria and Lebanon - looks at Syria's involvement in Lebanon's Civil War, its post-war influence, and ongoing relations between the two countries.
• Mehlis Report - implicates Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the February 2005 murder of former Lebanese PM Hariri. From the United Nations, December 2005.
• Wikipedia: Golan Heights - examines the disputed, strategic plateau held by Israel since its capture from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, and again in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
• Embassy of Syria in Washington D.C. - official site that includes information about the country, its leaders, and policy.
• Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Bilateral Negotiations - updates on the status of Israel-Syria negotiations over the Golan Heights.
• U.S. State Department: Syria - includes a section on U.S.-Syrian relations.
• The Damascene Blog - dispatches from a Damascus-based blogger. Includes links to other Syria-focused blogs.

HOW TO HELP

• U.N. Development Programme: Syria - provides policy advice and promotes socio-economic development.
• Red Cross and Red Crescent: Syria - promotes disaster preparedness and provides public health services.
• Human Rights Watch: Syria - issues bulletins and in-depth reports on the human rights situation in the country.

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