Syria Pulls Out a Third of Its Troops ~~ 10,000 troops ... mainly in the Bekaa Valley ...

Syria has withdrawn nearly a third of its 14,000 troops from Lebanon and the remainder were expected to be gone - as demanded by the Bush administration - before Lebanese parliamentary elections slated to begin next month, senior Syrian officials said Sunday.

The 10,000 troops still in the country have mainly pulled back to the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, near the Syrian border. However, 1,000 intelligence officers remain in the country, mainly the north around Tripoli and Akkar and on the southern edge of Beirut.

"The elections will take place and I think the troops will move out of Lebanon probably before then," Bouthaina Shaaban, a Syrian Cabinet minister, told CNN.

In a flurry of diplomatic activity a day after meeting Syrian President Bashar Assad, U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen held back-to-back sessions Sunday with top Lebanese officials. He was sent to the region to pressure Damascus to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, which demands an end to Syrian involvement in its tiny neighbor after nearly three decades. The document was drafted by the United States and France and adopted in September.

In southern Lebanon, meanwhile, at least 100,000 pro-Syrian demonstrators turned out in the market town of Nabatiyeh, where protesters burned Israeli flags and waved posters of Assad, his late father, President Hafez Assad, and pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. It was the second big protest organized by the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah in a week.

The demonstrators - some estimates put their number as high as 300,000 - shouted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" and slogans denouncing the U.N. resolution, under which Syrian is now removing its forces.

In south Beirut, thousands of anti-Syrian protesters conducted a candlelight demonstration, arranging themselves so the flames would spell out "truth."

The accounting of Syrian troops shows 4,000 have returned to their home country, 4,000 others have redeployed to the Bekaa Valley where they joined 6,000 who were already stationed there, a senior Lebanese army officer said on condition of anonymity.

The officer said the removal of the remaining 10,000 Syrian forces would be the subject of discussions at a Lebanese-Syrian military commission meeting scheduled for April 7. Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud concurred that the next moves would be decided by the commission, although he would not give a date for the meeting.

After his meetings with Lebanese officials, Roed-Larsen said he was "very encouraged by (Lebanese opposition leader Walid Jumblatt's) attitude," adding that "dialogue is the only way forward."

Roed-Larsen said he and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri focused on the "necessity of having free and fair elections in Lebanon according to the established time and schedule."

The U.N. envoy said after his Saturday session with Assad that he had extracted further details of a pullout timetable and would present that information at U.N. headquarters in New York later this week.

In a statement, Lahoud's office said he told the U.N. envoy that the Lebanese and Syrian leaderships had agreed to a series of military measures to secure a Syrian troop withdrawal in line with the Arab-brokered 1989 Taif agreement that ended Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

"The first stage of the Syrian troop withdrawal to the Bekaa region will be finalized soon," Lahoud said. "A date will be set for a full and final Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon by both countries' governments and military leaderships."

Syria has been the main power broker in Lebanon since sending troops in 1976 to help quell what was then a year-old civil war. The troops, at times numbering more than 35,000, remained after the war ended.

Renewed pressure on Syria to remove its troops gathered strength when Lebanese presidential elections were upended by Parliament's renewal of Lahoud's six-year term in September. The move was believed taken under Syrian pressure to change the constitution, which banned the incumbent from a new term.

At that point, the United Nations passed Resolution 1559, which also included a call for Lebanon to be allowed to hold presidential elections as scheduled. On March 4, President Bush demanded Syrian forces and agents leave before Lebanon's parliamentary elections.

The Lebanese opposition also was emboldened by the international outcry after the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who opposed Syria's presence. Many accuse the Syrian and Lebanese governments of involvement in the bomb attack that also killed 17 others. Both governments reject the charges.

The U.N. Security Council is to receive a report from Annan next month that outlines Roed-Larsen's assessment of Syria's implementation of its September resolution. The council will then consider what steps to take next, including possible sanctions if Syria is found in noncompliance.

Well, the BBC has a oicture:

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Last Updated: Sunday, 13 March, 2005, 20:30 GMT

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Syrian troop move 'encourages' US

Anti-Syrian demonstrators also held a new rally on Sunday

Syria's pledge to pull its troops from Lebanon has been cautiously welcomed in Washington, amid continuing mass rallies in support of its presence.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was a "positive development" but she and other top officials called for the withdrawal to be speeded up.

Damascus has promised to give the UN a timetable for pulling out its 14,000 troops and its intelligence agents.

Sunday saw a new mass pro-Syrian rally, this time in the town of Nabatiyeh.

Assad is beginning to hear the message

Stephen Hadley
White House national security adviser

Tens of thousands of people voiced support for the Syrian military presence and against American intervention at the rally organised by the Hezbollah militant group.

They chanted slogans such as "No to foreign intervention" and "Loyalty to Syria" while banners written in English read "Shut up Bush" and "Bush, we're in Lebanon, not Ukraine" - a reference to the troubled recent elections there.

In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, thousands attended a candlelit rally to demand a full investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, whose death was linked by some to Syria.

They spelt out the Arabic word for "Truth" with their bodies as night fell.

'Message heard'

White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley described initial reports on Syria's withdrawal plans as "encouraging".

Nabatiyeh boy painted in the Lebanese national colours brandishes Assad poster

Syria sent troops into Lebanon during the civil war in 1976

"Assad is beginning to hear the message," he said, but added: "What we need to see is action and deeds, not just words."

Both Mr Hadley and Ms Rice gave a round of interviews to US broadcasters on Sunday.

"It is positive that Syria would begin to withdraw its forces out of Lebanon, not just to the border," said the secretary of state.

However, "all troops need to be out and they need to be out on a timetable that is expeditious", she added.

After talks in Syria on Saturday with President Assad, UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen announced that he had received a commitment that Damascus would provide details of its withdrawal plan.

He said he was encouraged by the president's commitment to the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1559, referring to last September's UN call for the complete withdrawal of all Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Syrian forces are due to assemble in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley by the end of March before their complete departure.

A senior Lebanese military source quoted by The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said on Sunday that Syria had pulled 4,000 of its troops out of the country this week.

Syria has publicised the return of some of its troops, allowing photographers to record their arrival to flower-waving crowds.

There is this:

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Syria to Decide on Withdrawal in April

Sunday, March 13, 2005

PHOTOS

PHOTO ESSAYS


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Photo Essays:

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STORIES

BACKGROUND

LINKS

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Minister: Commission to Decide Syrian Timetable

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U.N. Gets Timetable for Syrian Withdrawal

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Syrians Cheer Returning Troops

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Syrian Troops Leave North Lebanon

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U.N.: Syria Needs Full Withdrawal Timetable

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Russia Keeping Eye On Syria in Lebanon

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Pro-Syrian Lebanese Premier Reappointed

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Pro-Syria PM May Get Job Back

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Syrians Rally Behind Assad

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Bush: Syria Withdrawal Not Enough

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Pro-Syrian Protesters Rally in Beirut

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Who's Really Running Syria?

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Syria Begins Pullback in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria () has withdrawn nearly a third of the troops it had in Lebanon (), a senior officer said Sunday, but the Lebanese foreign minister said a date for a complete withdrawal would not be set until an April 7 meeting between the military leadership of the two countries.

The senior Syrian officer said about 4,000 soldiers had crossed the border into Syria since the pullout began on Tuesday and the remaining 10,000 were in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley ().

"Another 4,000 soldiers in Lebanon's central mountains have redeployed to the Bekaa region. This is in addition to 6,000 troops already stationed in the Bekaa," the military official said on condition of anonymity.

He said the fate of the 10,000 troops remaining in the Bekaa would be discussed by the April 7 military commission.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud () also said the joint military commission would set the "duration, time and location in these matters." He made the remarks after meeting with U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen in Beirut, a day after Roed-Larsen had visited Syrian President Bashar Assad.

President Bush (), who repeatedly has called for a full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, wants Syria to move out before Lebanon's parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in April and May.

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Asked if the final withdrawal could take place before the elections, Hammoud said it was up to the joint military commission to decide.

Roed-Larsen indicated he had extracted a timetable for full withdrawal from Assad during their meeting Saturday but would not reveal it until he meets with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York this week.

Assad, facing international pressure to withdraw, told his parliament on March 5 that Syria's 14,000 troops would be redeployed to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, closer to the border, by March 31, but a complete withdrawal would be deferred until after later negotiations.

"The commission will present proposals to the Lebanese and Syrian governments about the status of Syrian forces redeployed in the Bekaa and define these forces' relationship with local authorities," the Syrian official told The Associated Press.

Syria also has about 1,000 intelligence agents in Lebanon, according to a Lebanese military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, but it wasn't clear if their fate would be part of the discussions.

Nine Syrian intelligence offices remain in northern Lebanon, including the towns of Tripoli, Akkar, Minye and Amyoun. Plainclothes intelligence agents operate from the guarded offices in apartment buildings and deal directly with Lebanese.

Syria has been the main power broker in Lebanon for nearly three decades since sending troops to its smaller neighbor in 1976 to help quell a year-old civil war. The troops, at times numbering more than 35,000, remained after the war ended in 1990.

The 1989 Arab-brokered Taif Accord, which was never implemented, called for Syria to move its troops to the Lebanese border and for both countries to then negotiate the withdrawal.

Pressure on Syria to remove its troops gathered strength when Lebanese presidential elections were upended by Parliament's renewal of Lebanon's pro-Syria President Emile Lahoud's six-year term in September. The move was believed taken under Syrian pressure to change the constitution, which banned the incumbent from a new term.

At that point, the United Nations passed Resolution 1559, drafted by the United States and France. It declared Syria must withdraw, stop influencing politics in the country and allow Lebanon to hold presidential elections as scheduled.

On Sunday, Roed-Larsen said his mission in both Lebanon and Syria was to ensure implementation of the U.N. resolution, which he said would be "in the best interest of all parties concerned and will take into consideration the necessity of political stability in Lebanon."

Roed-Larsen later met with Lahoud, who told the U.N. envoy that the Lebanese and Syrian leaderships have agreed on series of military measures to secure a Syrian troop withdrawal in line with the Taif agreement.

"The first stage of Syrian troop withdrawal to the Bekaa region will be finalized soon," Lahoud said in a statement. "A date will be set for a full and final Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon by both countries' governments and military leaderships."

On Saturday, Lahoud said Lebanon will not accept the resolution's demand that the Islamic militant Hezbollah group be disarmed. Washington labels the Syrian and Iranian-backed Hezbollah a terrorist organization, but Lebanon considers it a legitimate resistance movement that led the guerrilla war against Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

The U.N. Security Council is to receive a report next month from Annan, based on Roed-Larsen's visit, on Syria's implementation of the resolution. It then will consider next steps, which could include sanctions on Syria.

Lebanon's opposition had long rejected Syria's role in their country, but the outcry intensified after the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, seen as a powerful force moving into the opposition camp. Tens of thousands of Lebanese have protested in the streets.

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