This agreement ended up in failure when Hobeika was ousted from East Beirut. Later, Khaddam encouraged Hobeika to come back to Lebanon from France and reestablish his base in the city of Zahle in the Syrian-occupied Bekaa Valley. The Taif Accord was used as a pretext to oust the legitimate Lebanese government and finalize the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. With the Syrian occupation of Beirut in 1990, Khaddam worked assiduously to solidify Syrian control over successive Lebanese governments. In particular, his relationship with former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was very close.
Continuity leads to stability.
Bashar Assad, the son and heir apparent of Syrian President Hafez Assad, took control over Syrian policy in Lebanon in 1998, fearing that Khaddam might use Hariri, his money and his Saudi connections to challenge his ascension to the presidency. Syrian policy in Lebanon under Bashar took advantage of widespread disaffection with Hariri and his failed economic policies to bring the Lahoud-Hoss government to power. Hariri has spent his days since then trying to rub shoulders with Bashar Assad and distancing himself as much as he can from Khaddam and former Syrian army Chief of Staff Hikmat Shihabi, another loser as a result of Bashar's ascendency. Hariri is no longer offering his private plane, his mansions in Europe or his boat to accommodate and entertain the Khaddam and the Shihabi families. Perhaps the best indication of Khaddam's political eclipse was the reaction in Lebanon to the death of his grand-daughter last month.