FDD Senior Fellow Dr. Walid Phares to Meet with U.N. Security Council Members on Lebanon’s Challenge

 Appointed by official Lebanese Diaspora organization to request U.N. action

Washington, DC (March 3, 2005) – The World Lebanese Cultural Union, the official organization representing more than 12 million Lebanese of all ethnic and religious backgrounds around the world, has appointed Dr. Walid Phares to head a delegation to the United Nations to request a new Security Council resolution calling for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and the formation of a multinational effort to oversee free and fair elections. 

On Monday, March 7, the delegation will meet with U.N. missions representing members of the Security Council, including the Unites States, France, members of the Arab League, and others.

Dr. Phares, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a professor of Middle East Studies in Florida, is a native of Lebanon and a longtime writer on Lebanese affairs.  Before relocating to the United States in 1990, Dr. Phares practiced law and taught in Beirut. His first book, “Pluralism in Lebanon,” was published in 1979.

Mr. Joe Baini, International President of the WLCU based in Sydney, Australia, said: “We are confident that Professor Phares will be a strong advocate for the millions of Lebanese emigrants who support freedom for Lebanon. He has a mandate to speak on behalf of our Diaspora international organization with the Security Council and the Secretariat General of the United Nations to urge whatever actions are necessary to end the Syrian occupation.”

The World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU) was founded in Mexico in 1960 to represent the Lebanese communities, associations and clubs around the world.  It has chapters in 32 countries. The Lebanese Diaspora is three times the size of Lebanon's population.

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