Posted on 03/03/2005 10:58:46 AM PST by 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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
The Syrians might actually leave this time.
You know what I hope they dont fall into cival war if that happen everybody blame the US
Remember the 1980s cival war that was brutal
Fantastic!
I had to get a transplant.
ROTFL I won't forget ;o)
To your list, I would add the latest significant news: the Saudis have told Assad he needs to pull out of Lebanon immediately. Remarkable!
I suspect Assad is caught between a rock and a hard place. If he leaves, his government is at risk back home. If he stays, he risks opening the door to possible international sanctions and military action.
I remember...ROFLMAO!!!
Who printed the signs??? Who paid for them?
Obviously professionally done, and in English.
Just wondering... same as I do during ANSWER protests!
Always look for the money!
Assad went begging to HRH Prince Abdullah and was told " Sorry son, but the jig is up. Have you looked around for a nice place in Switzerland?""
Just for the sake of better understanding cultural diversity, would you think she is Christian or Moslem?
Sums it up perfectly. Apparently the Saudi royal family was close to the former Lebanese PM Hariri, so they're not taking his assassination well at all. If the Saudis cut off the money supply to Syria, Assad will be lucky if he makes it to Switzerland.
I'm told tht back in 1830, in her prime she looked pretty good.
Honestly, nmo idea..I'd suspect Christian...
LoL, they've never dated a syrian/lebanese/iranian woman and gotten them mad before. They'll carve off your goodies and your family name will be on their family's hit list for the next 5000 years. Seriously. Forks and spoons in the house only.
:^P
Ouch! I guess our American guys should look but not consider touching, LOL!
Russia, Germany and France are now standing with the U.S. to liberate a people?
Guess they don't want to get caught on the wrong side this time.
Syria get out of Lebanon!! WTG lebanese, keep protesting for your rights! Thank God for our Prez and the troops of the coalition and allied partners of our nation.
Add Saudi Arabia to the list of those joining the chorus asking Assad to get out of Lebanon. Assad when to Saudi Arabia this morning looking for help, but they told him to get out of Lebanon.
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