Syria to redeploy troops in Lebanon to the Syrian border
Pakistan Times Foreign Desk

DAMASCUS (Syria): President Bashar al-Assad announced on Saturday that Syria would redeploy all its troops in Lebanon to the Syrian border but did not set a timetable for a full withdrawal.

Speaking to parliament amid mounting pressure to act from friend and foe alike, Assad said Syria would pull back its troops to the eastern Bekaa valley and then to the border itself.

"As an extension of measures already taken ... we will withdraw our forces stationed in Lebanon to the Bekaa Valley and then to the border" with Syria, he said in the keynote address.

"I have agreed with (Lebanese) President Emile Lahoud that the Supreme Council on Security should meet this week to approve the withdrawal plan and then we will have fulfilled our obligations under the Taef accord and under Resolution 1559."

It was not clear whether the troops would cross over into Syria once they had reached the border but the announcement marked the end of a 29-year period when Syrian troops have been stationed in the heart of the country.

He gave no indication over when the redeployment would take place and also did not give details about the future of Syrian intelligence personnel stationed in Lebanon.

Perspective

Since the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri last month provoked an upsurge in anti-Syrian sentiment, the United States and France have led the international campaign against Damascus's presence in Lebanon.

Syria and its Lebanese allies have been widely blamed for Hariri's murder, and mass public protests have already forced the resignation of the Beirut government.

Assad described the murder as a "heinous crime ... against the unity and stability of Lebanon as well as Syria".

The torchbearer for the Lebanese opposition, Walid Jumblatt, welcomed the speech as "positive", saying it had provided the "new vision" that the opposition had demanded.

But he added: "We extend our hand while realising that there needs to be a clear timetable."

Assad argued that Syria was not against a full withdrawal from Lebanon, pointing out that the country has already pulled out thousands of its troops since September 2000 and wanted to see them come home.

"The natural place for Syrian forces is Syrian land," he said. "Withdrawal is in the interests of Syria."

But Assad said any withdrawal had to be coordinated and that the United Nations would have to "shoulder the responsibility" of its demands for an immediate pullout.

Rejects Pressure

Syria would make no withdrawal under pressure, Assad said. "There is an impression, which is wrong, that Syria is in a predicament and we have to find a way out."

Earlier, Lebanese forces in Beirut had briefly deployed outside three Syrian intelligence buildings in the Lebanese capital, although there was no clear explanation for the move.

A Lebanese officer at the scene said it was a "prelude to the Lebanese army taking charge of positions that will be evacuated by the Syrian army."

The hour-long speech from Assad was punctuated by frequent bursts of applause from the lawmakers, who surrounded him and cheered as he was escorted out of the building.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Syrians were gathered outside the parliament watching the proceedings on big screens, waving Syrian flags and greeting Assad's pronouncements by chanting his name and cheering.

The key question is whether Assad's speech will satisfy US President George W. Bush, who has warned the Damascus government he expects nothing less than a full pullout from Lebanon.

Bush Reax

"For years, the Lebanese people have suffered from the aftermath of a horrific civil war and occupation by Syria," President Bush said in his weekly radio address on Saturday.

"A Syrian withdrawal of all its military and intelligence personnel would help ensure that the Lebanese elections occur as scheduled in the spring, and that they will be free and fair."

He said; Syria is an obstacle to securing peace across the Middle East, making a new demand that Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

"For years, the Lebanese people have suffered from the aftermath of a horrific civil war and occupation by Syria," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

"Lebanese citizens who have watched free elections in Iraq are now demanding the right to decide their own destiny, free of Syrian control and domination.”

"Syria has been an occupying force in Lebanon for nearly three decades, and Syria's support for terrorism remains a key obstacle to peace in the broader Middle East.", he added.

Britain, France and Germany have echoed the calls from Washington and even Arab nations have made clear their position, with key donor Saudi Arabia calling for a "rapid" pullback.

Syria has long argued that it needs to retain troops in Lebanon because of Israel's continued occupation of the Golan Heights, seized from Damascus in the 1967 Middle East war.

The troops entered Lebanon to try to restore peace during that country's 15-year long civil war which ended in 1990 under the Taef agreement.

This provided for a phased redeployment of the Syrian forces but set no timetable, leaving it to agreement between Beirut and Damascus. In a series of redeployments since June 2001, Syrian troop numbers have fallen from a maximum of 40,000 to 14,000.

Syria currently has between 4,000 and 5,000 troops outside the eastern bekaa valley near the border.

They are stationed on the heights along the main Beirut-Damascus highway, in the Dhour Choueir region further north and in the far northern city of Tripoli. Assad said Middle East peace will not be possible without the return by Israel of the Golan Heights.

"Peace in our region will never be achieved unless our land that is occupied is returned to us," he said.

Troops around Syrian HQ Withdrawn

A report from Beruit says that units from the Lebanese army briefly took up positions near the Beirut headquarters of Syrian army intelligence Saturday afternoon and later withdrew.

Annan to visit Israel, Palestinians

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans this month to visit Israel and the Palestinian West Bank to discuss Middle East peace proposals and attend the opening of a new Holocaust museum, UN envoys said.

The visit on March 15-16, the first by Annan in nearly four years, will include talks with President President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli officials.●