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Syria poised to announce Lebanon pullback
BEIRUT - Under intense global pressure, Syria was poised to announce Saturday that it would start to pull troops out of Lebanon, but the move looked unlikely to placate the United States or other vocal critics. Lebanese political sources said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would tell parliament some troops were leaving its neighbor completely and others would redeploy closer to the border. They have been there since intervening in Lebanon's civil war in the 1970s but criticism has mounted since a former Lebanese prime minister was assassinated last month. President Bush warned nothing short of a full withdrawal would do. "When we say withdraw we mean complete withdrawal -- no half-hearted measures," he said Friday. "Syrian troops, Syrian intelligence services must get out of Lebanon now." He earlier called for all Syrian forces to be out by May to clear the way for elections due that month to be free. Lebanese newspapers were dominated by what Bush said and what Assad might say. Most commentators agreed that Syria had no choice but to start a pullout from Lebanon. "Withdrawing is the only way out of the dark tunnel," commentator Rafik Khouri wrote in the Al-Anwar daily. "It is the only door toward restoring ties between the two countries to their brotherly nature and end international pressure on Syria. "Everyone is waiting to listen to what President Bashar al-Assad will declare," Khouri wrote. Abdel Rahim Mrad, defense minister in the Syrian-backed Lebanese government which resigned Monday amid anti-Syrian street protests, said the move would adhere to the Taif Accord which ended Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. "Syria will redeploy its forces in line with Taif," he said. SYRIA BLAMED Many Lebanese blame former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri's assassination on Syria, which denied involvement in the Beirut bombing. A stun grenade was hurled at a Syrian post in the eastern town of Baalbek Friday night without causing any casualties. The Taif agreement stipulates Syrian forces be redeployed to the eastern Bekaa valley, close to Syria, and then that Lebanon and Syria would agree on how long these forces stay. Syria has carried out five redeployments since 2000, pulling some forces to the Bekaa and some back to Syria, but has maintained forces in and around Beirut and in northern Lebanon. It has viewed Lebanon as a strategic asset and key economic outlet for decades. Nationalists in Damascus have traditionally seen Lebanon as a rightful part of Syria sliced off by French-British colonial machinations. The Saudis have also pressed Assad to withdraw swiftly. "Saudi Arabia does not want to see another Iraq in Syria," one Saudi official said.
But while most pressure from Arab leaders has been veiled, Western governments have become increasingly blunt. U.S. officials said the West wanted to act quickly, perhaps with sanctions and a tougher U.N. resolution, if Syria dragged its feet. A U.S.-backed resolution in September had already called for a withdrawal. British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said that unless the Syrians pulled out "they will be treated as a pariah not just by the West but by most of their Arab neighbors." He ruled out a military attack on Syria. Lebanese opposition figures cautiously welcomed the expected withdrawal, calling it a step in the right direction, but said like Bush they hoped the pullback would include the Syrian intelligence services active in Lebanon. Hundreds of demonstrators have kept up daily protests in central Beirut against Syrian influen#e. |
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