Syria's Assad Discusses Lebanon Crisis with Saudis (Russia, Germany join calls for withdrawal)

Reuters via Yahoo News ^ | 3/3/05

[Wolfstar]

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew to Saudi Arabia on Thursday for crisis talks on the future of Syrian troops in Lebanon as Russia and Germany joined international demands for their speedy withdrawal.

Damascus has faced mounting calls to end its military and political dominance of Lebanon since last month's assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister in a Beirut bomb blast.

Diplomats said Assad and his foreign minister, Farouq al-Shara, met Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in Riyadh in the presence of Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal.

Prince Saud earlier told reporters in Egypt his country had "no initiative" to resolve the Syria-Lebanon crisis.

Pressure on Damascus intensified when Russia, its main Cold War ally and still one of its best friends, threw its weight behind the campaign to evict the Syrians from Lebanon.

"Syria should withdraw from Lebanon, but we all have to make sure that this withdrawal does not violate the very fragile balance which we still have in Lebanon, which is a very difficult country ethnically," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the BBC late on Wednesday.

Russia abstained when the U.N. Security Council adopted U.S. and French-sponsored Resolution 1559 in September calling for foreign forces to leave Lebanon and militias to disarm.

But Lavrov said the resolution, like any other Council measure, must be implemented.

Arab heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt want Assad to pull out his 14,000 troops from Lebanon in compliance with resolution 1559 and the Taif Accord that ended Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

Prince Saud earlier met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss "the Syrian vision on implementing U.N. Resolution 1559," Egypt's state news agency MENA reported.

[SNIP]

SCHROEDER JOINS CHORUS

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, visiting Yemen, also called on Syria to take its troops out immediately, saying U.N. resolutions must be implemented to give Lebanon "an opportunity for sovereignty and development."

[SNIP]

Arab foreign ministers were in Egypt to prepare for next month's Arab summit. The Syria-Lebanon problem is not on any formal agenda, but has become an urgent Arab concern.

[SNIP]

Arab diplomats said Arab mediators were trying to persuade Syria to set a timetable for a withdrawal, but one said it was not clear whether Lebanon was in a position formally to request a pullout since it only has a caretaker administration.

The political crisis deepened on Thursday when Syria's [Lebanese] allies called for a government of national unity, ignoring demands by opposition leaders for Syrian troops and intelligence agents to depart and Lebanese security chiefs to resign.

[Wolfstar]

The demonstrations have been going on around the clock Lebanon. These photos were taken today:

Lebanese relatives of bomb victim Abdel-Hamid Ghaleyeini carry banners during his funeral in Beirut, March 3, 2005. Ghaleyeini's body was found in the rubble at Beirut's St George Hotel site on Wednesday, more than two weeks after a bomb blew apart former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri's motorcade, killing him and 17 others.

Courageous Lebanese protestors. Lebanon's embattled president was struggling to find a new premier after the opposition insisted on a Syrian pledge for a troop pullout before it would hold talks on joining a new government.

In the meantime, over in Syria: Turkish and Syrian intellectuals gather at the Syrian parliament in Damascus to protest against U.S. pressure on Syria to withdraw its troops from neighboring Lebanon, March 3, 2005. President Bush increased the pressure Wednesday by DEMANDING in blunt terms that Syria get out of Lebanon, saying the free world is in agreement that Damascus' authority over the political affairs of its neighbor must end now. The administration said it was skeptical of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's pledge to withdraw his country's troops because Damascus has sent mixed signals about its intentions.

[ken5050]

Who knew Lebanon had it's own Protst Warrior "Belly Girl"?

[prairiebreeze]

The men that read this thread will probably be sending you flowers.

:^D

[Pyro7480]

Seriously, Lebanese women are gorgeous!

[finnman69]

Bush may go down in history as being superior to even Ronald Reagan for his accomplishments.

[ken5050]

There are gorgeous women everywhere....The pics show how media savvy they are..the signs are in English, not Arabic or French..

[SevenofNine]

ROFL Ken rack ittt

I wonder if Assad getting nervous if his own people want freedom remember if this happening in Lebanon don't be suprise wacky Syrians average citizens be asking questions LOL!

[Wolfstar]

Who knew Lebanon had it's own Protst Warrior "Belly Girl"?

LOL!

[Wolfstar]

Good day, prairie. Hope all is well in your world today. I have to chuckle about that photo, but can't take credit (or blame) for it. It's one of relatively few photos of the protests TODAY that are currently up on Yahoo News Photos.

[Truth29]

Popular protest worked in the Ukraine. It seems to be working in Lebanon. People took courage and voted for freedom in Iraq. Now if we can only liberate Washington State from Gregoirevych.

[Wolfstar]

Seriously, Lebanese women are gorgeous!

The photo of this young woman taken during the Monday protests has broken more than a few male hearts here on FR.

[Larry Lucido]

I wouldn't want to live in Lebanon, but Freeping there definitely has its perks.

[Larry Lucido]

Memo to: Freeperettes

Please take note in post #12 of the proper way to conduct future Freeps.

Please pass it on. That will be all.

[Wolfstar]

Bush may go down in history as being superior to even Ronald Reagan for his accomplishments.

GWB is the political heir of President Reagan. In fact, during an interview conducted by Brian Lamb on C-SPAN, GWB said he considers Ronald Reagan his mentor.

I view their presidencies as a continuum. GWB's accomplishments would not have been possible without Reagan's. Both men are genuinely significant historical figures. Personally, I don't like using the term "great," since it is so overused. Nevertheless, both are great men.

Having said all that, though, because of the way he handled 9/11 and the years since, GWB is already one of the top four or five presidents in U.S. history, and is on his way to becoming one of the most important historical figures in all of human history.

[Wolfstar]

Good day, Seven. These scenes remind me of many similar scenes in Eastern Europe.

[Wolfstar]

Now if we can only liberate Washington State from Gregoirevych.

ROFLMAO!!! I suppose I could say the same thing about liberating California from our Marxist legislature.

[Wolfstar]

...but Freeping there definitely has its perks.

Yep, especially for guy FReepers.

[Pyro7480]

What thread what that on originally?

[Wolfstar]

While not all Lebanese women are beautiful, all those who are in the streets protesting are very courageous.

[Wolfstar]

What thread what that on originally?

There was a long thread about the protests on Monday (over 900 replies). I posted a bunch of photos there in response to requests from other FReepers. That photo was one of them. Here's a link.