was opened in Beirut. In March 2009, Lebanon followed and opened its embassy in Damascus. Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was formed in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri on 14 February 2005. Following which the Syrian military presence ended on 26 April 2005 after the Cedar Revolution that took place as a reaction to the assassination. In 2010, as rumors abounded of an indictment to members of Hezbollah and rising tensions, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Lebanon for the first time since the Hariri's assassination along with Saudi King Abdullah. Political status Analyzing whether and when the Syrian presence was a military occupation under international law, Gerhard von Glahn writes that "The mandate of the Force was renewed several times before it officially expired on 27 July 1982, at the time of the Israeli siege of Beirut. The Lebanese government refused to request that the mandate be renewed by the Arab League. Instead, in September 1986, Lebanon requested an end to the Syrian presence in Lebanon. It would appear that lacking legal authority from both Lebanon and the Arab League, Syria's military forces had to be regarded henceforth as illegal occupants of Lebanon." Comparing Syrian occupation of Lebanon with the Soviet occupations of Eastern Europe, Professor of Middle East Studies Mordechai Nisan writes:"Throughout the modern history of the Arab world, Nasser oppressed his Egyptian people, Saddam Hussein his Iraqi people, and Muammar Qaddafi his Libyan people. But Hafez el-Assad oppressed not only his Syrian people but the Lebanese people as well. Dictatorship was not an uncommon regime form, but a successful and long-term conquest was unusual. Egypt fought in Yemen (1963–67) and Iraq invaded Kuwait (1990), but only Syria occupied a fellow Arab country for thirty years... Stalinism in Eastern Europe and Assadism in Lebanon offer certain similarities for consideration. Military invasion, political manipulation, and ideological co-optation supplied the means for the Soviet Union to penetrate and dominate Eastern Europe; these were also methods employed by Syria against Lebanon. The common goal was the homogenization of thought and culture under centralized rule." See also Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon Lebanon bombings and assassinations (2004–present) List of assassinated Lebanese people Notes Bibliography External links The Syrian Occupation of Lebanon The Syrian Occupation of Lebanon Pining for Freedom: Syrian occupation suffocates Lebanon, and the world shrugs Ending