For the Lebanese, the victory of the Libyan rebels carries a bittersweet taste. As the 33rd anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Musa Sadr approaches, many Lebanese are filled with hope that news of the fate of Sadr would surface with the demise of the Qaddafi regime. Lebanese officials are now asking the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) to investigate the case and are proposing sending a fact-finding mission to Libya for the same purpose.

Lebanon and Libya have had strained relations since the disappearance of Sadr in August 1978. Revered leader of the Shiite sect, which had been neglected and underrepresented until his emergence, had disappeared on a trip to Libya. Libyan authorities claimed he had boarded a plane to Italy, but Italian authorities denied that he ever arrived.

Relations soured after his kidnapping. In Aug. 2008, Lebanon issued arrest warrants against Muammar Qaddafi, accusing him of kidnapping the cleric. The only news of his fate came in an interview with a former Libyan ambassador to the Arab League, who told pan-Arab daily Al Hayat that Sadr had been killed by Qaddafi's regime and buried in southern Libya. However, a Libyan pposition activist, Sami al-Masrati, claimed that Sadr was still alive (in which case he would be 83 years old). The Lebanese now await the final verdict.

In 2010, President Michel Suleiman boycotted the Arab summit in Libya at the behest of Lebanese house speaker and Shia leader Nabih Berri. Ensuing reports indicated that Qaddafi had plans to expel 20,000 Lebanese from the country and end all trade ties. In 2003, Libya closed its embassy in Beirut due to a disagreement between Qaddafi and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

The advent of the Libyan upheaval marked a new era in the relations between the two countries. Lebanon, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, actively lobbied in favor of the Libyan people's rights and led the efforts to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. It was among the first countries to recognize the NTC last week. A delegation from the council visited Lebanon this week to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Libyan victory also has an indirect impact on Lebanon - through repercussions on Syria. The fall of Libya has propped up the Syrian opposition and reinforced faith in the demise of dictators. The Libyan NTC has inspired the Syrian opposition to press forward on forming a unified, representative political body. Leading Syrian figures met in Instanbul this week to nominate a council that would act as an interim governing body should Syrian President Bashar Assad fall.

Syrian opposition figures in Washington fear that the success of the Libyan model might push protesters in Syria to pick up arms against the regime. Such a move, they argue, may lead to civil strife. Despite  those fears, the protests have thus far been peaceful although the death tool has exceeded 2,200 deaths.

With the Libyan uprising nearing its end, international leaders are also looking to apply lessons learned to the Syrian upheaval. Western countries have ruled out military intervention, arguing that Syria is different than Libya. However, they have ratcheted up economic and diplomatic pressure on the Syrian regime to weaken its grip on power.

There are also lessons to be learned for Assad. It may well be true that he can rest assured that the international community will not subject him to the same amount of pressure as it did to other Arab dictators. The UN Security Council has not been able to pass any resolutions condemning the Syrian regime due to China and Russia's veto power. Domestically, thousands have died, been injured, jailed or have gone missing - and yet, the regime maintains that the uprising is a Western conspiracy. But this cannot go on forever. Having lost most of his allies, and with increasing calls to send him and his aides to the International Court of Justice, the Syrian president may find that despite his diplomatic tactics, the outcomes of the two upheavals may not be that different after all.