Syrian Critic Is Accused of Treason 
December 31, 2005
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/international/middleeast/01syria.html
LONDON, Dec. 31 - The Syrian Parliament called on the government on Saturday to indict former Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam on treason and corruption charges over his televised criticism of President Bashar al-Assad the day before. 
In a meeting that was broadcast live, lawmakers excoriated Mr. Khaddam for insulting Syrian pride and accused him of corruption and treason. Even his decision to live in France since his forced resignation six months ago drew cries of betrayal. 
You don't deserve to be a Syrian, one lawmaker called out. 
Mr. Khaddam, who became vice president in 1984, told the pan-Arab satellite news channel Al Arabiya on Friday that President Assad had threatened former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon months before Mr. Hariri was assassinated, and that no Syrian authority could have made the decision to kill Mr. Hariri on its own. But Mr. Khaddam did not specifically accuse Mr. Assad of making or participating in the decision to assassinate Mr. Hariri. 
This is a big operation with an apparatus behind it, not individuals, he said Friday. What happened in Syria is the outcome of a monopoly of power, wrong political calculations, and misreading of the changing international environment.
A United Nations investigation into the truck bombing that killed Mr. Hariri and 20 others on Feb. 14 concluded in a preliminary report that the attack was the work of high-ranking Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officers. Syrian officials, including Mr. Assad, have denied involvement and have recently tried to discredit the investigation.