"Chirac is all the more furious because he did so much to get (Syrian president) Bashar el-Assad known outside his country," Perrin said. "The assassination of the former prime minister looks like a real challenge thrown down not just to Paris and Washington - but to the whole international community - by a Syria that is increasingly isolated, even in the Arab world," he said.

• I would have thought Assad was well known enough already: dynasties in the modern world are few and far between, and his family's more-or-less been running the country since it broke up with Egypt.
• As for the isolation bit, I don't know. Russia not only forgave all of Syria's previous debt incurred by buying weapons on credit, they've also agreed to "sell" them more of their most modern stuff, in purchases rumored to be subsidized by the Saudis.