Dear friends:

A mass demonstration organized by SOLIDA (Soutien aux Libanais Détenus Arbitrairement: Support to the Lebanese detainee in Syrian jails) and other organizations including the "Coordination Committee for a Free Lebanon" will be held on Thursday, July 16, 1998 during Syrian President Hafez al-Asad’s visit to Paris to protest the illegal imprisonment of over 200 Lebanese citizens in Syria. The demonstration will take place at “Place du Trocadero” in Paris from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

1) If you are currently living in Western Europe and are concerned about the plight of Lebanese detainees in Syria, we urge you to attend the demonstration. If you cannot be there, please take the time to forward this email announcement to all of your friends and colleagues who may be able to attend.

2) The WLO and other groups is mounting a campaign worldwide to draw the attention of   French authrorities and internaitonal opinion on the "Syrian occupation of Lebanon and the Lebanese detainee in Syrian prisons."

We urge you to do the following, if you can:

a. Contact the nearest embassy or the local consulate of France and speak to an official. Share with them the feelings and concerns of your communities around the world vis a vis the visit of the Syrian president to Paris.

b. Send a fax or an email to the embassy or consulate on behalf of (yourself) your group.

c. Better, if possible, visit the embassy or the consulate and meet with officials, and leave a note.

d. Whenever it is possible, take a picture, or a video clip of the visit and send it to us. We are preparing a documentary on the event to be broadcasted in the diaspora.

In whatever you select, be extremely polite but firm in the substance.

We suggest you raise the following issues at will:

A - The Syrian occupation of Lebanon
B - The Abuse of Human Rights in Lebanon by Syrian services and allies
C - The Lebanese detainee in Syrian jails (important)
D - Political Prisoners in Lebanon by pro-Syrian services
E - Persecution of the Christian community in particular (when needed)

Make sure to copy your letters (when possible) to local and national newspapers and to local churches and associations.

PS: For matter of coordination and efficiency, please inform us and update us of the activities as they unfold, and clarify if we can publicize or not. The WLO center will be on alert for the next three days.

Best and good luck to all of us

Pierre Elias
WLO-Info

The Detainee Action Campaign

For more information, contact SOLIDA by
telephone at 01 43 07 49 68 or 06 86 34 14 98, or by email at
waa@club-internet.fr