The mission said it had been told by a number of people close to Mr. Hariri that he had reported that in his last meeting with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria , the Syrian leader had threatened him with physical harm if he continued his campaign to assert Lebanese independence from Syria .
Bashar al-Assad /people/person/nationality Syria
Bashar al-Assad /people/person/nationality Syria
DT NN VBD PRP VBD VBN VBN IN DT NN IN NNS RB TO NNP NNP IN PRP VBD VBN IN IN PRP$ JJ NN IN NNP NNP NNP IN NNP , DT JJ NN VBD VBN PRP IN JJ NN IN PRP VBD PRP$ NN TO VB JJ NN IN NNP .
Bashar al-Assad
PERSON
Syria
LOCATION
/people/person/nationality
Bashar al-Assad
PERSON
Syria
LOCATION
/people/person/nationality