The 73-year-old singer's patriotic songs are enormously popular across the Arab world and she is a Lebanese icon.

Almost three decades after her last performance in Syria, Fairouz traveled to Damascus Thursday despite appeals by Lebanese political leaders to stay away.

Lebanon is deeply and bitterly divided along pro- and anti-Syrian lines, a prolonged crisis that has left the country without a president since Nov. 23. because the two camps cannot agree on a candidate. Eight prominent anti-Syrian figures have been assassinated in Lebanon since 2005.

Fairouz is to take the Syrian stage Monday for a six-night run of the musical "Sah el-Nom" — one of her classics.

In Lebanon, anti-Syrian politicians who dominate the government and parliament blame Syria for the country's current crisis — its deepest since the 1975-90 civil war. And some politicians took offense at Fairouz's trip.

Walid Jumblatt, a leading member of the anti-Syrian majority in parliament, made a veiled remark about Fairouz going to Damascus to perform for tyrants.

"Some capable singing voices are volunteering (to sing) for Syria's intelligence agencies which understand only the culture of killing, tyranny and oppression and do not appreciate art," he said.

A lawmaker from Jumblatt's bloc pleaded directly with Fairouz not to go.

"Those who love Lebanon do not sing for its jailers," said Akram Chehayeb. "Our ambassador to the stars, you painted for us the dream nation. So don't scatter that dream like the dictators of Damascus scattered our dreams of a democratic free country."

Syria controlled Lebanon for almost three decades until its army was forced to leave in 2005 under intense international pressure following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Since then, the Western-backed government has accused Syria of orchestrating the chaos and assassinations that have spiked in Lebanon. Syria has denied it.

Many Lebanese singers have performed in Syria since the 2005 withdrawal. But Fairouz is a different story.

Because she is so closely associated with Lebanese pride and identity, her choice strikes some as a betrayal.

The reclusive Fairouz did not comment on the criticism, but it drew angry retorts from her entourage. Composer and lyricist Mansour Rahbani, the brother of Fairouz's late husband Assi, said the singer's performance is "a message of love and peace from Lebanon to Syria — a message of friendship, not subservience."

"So, please refrain from thrusting our name in the political mud," he added in a statement last week.

The Rahbani brothers wrote most of Fairouz's work, including Sah el-Nom.

"Sah el-Nom," or "Good Morning" in loose translation from Arabic, tells the story of an autocratic ruler who wakes up from a deep sleep only when the moon is full. He listens to petitions from his subjects and forces them to give him bribes and services, then grants only three petitions each time before returning to his slumber.

It was staged for the first time in 1970 and was performed again in Lebanon in 2006.

The excitement was palpable in Syria, where the state SANA news agency reported Fairouz's arrival Thursday. But for many Syrians, the price for a ticket to see the musical — between $40 and $200 — is out of reach.

Syrians dismissed Lebanese demands that Fairouz not sing for them.

"Fairouz is above all such rancorous voices," said Youssef Mohammad, a 42-year-old Syrian government employee.

Syrian lawyer Shadi Koussa, 26, said Fairouz has come to sing for "the Syrian people who adore her, not for the political regime."

"Don't politicize art," he added.

Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed to this report from Damascus, Syria.