DAMASCUS, 22 February 2005 — Syria will take steps to withdraw its forces from Lebanon “soon” and encourage a UN role in probing the killing of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, according to Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
Following his meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Moussa confirmed that the Syrian leadership “will soon take unspecified measures for withdrawing its troops from neighboring Lebanon.”
“President Assad has confirmed several times (during our meeting) his firm intentions to move ahead in implementing the Taif pact and withdraw Syrian forces from Lebanon according to that agreement,” said Moussa, adding that President Bashar also confirmed that the Taif agreement and the withdrawal of his troops from Lebanon had always been part of the Syrian policy.
Moussa also confirmed that President Bashar had welcomed the UN to play a role in the probe into the assassination of Hariri along with some 16 others in Beirut on Feb. 14. “President Assad has welcomed the participation of a UN team in the probe, a step that will be in the interest of all,” Moussa said, quoting Bashar as saying that he would urge the investigation to be carried out in the fastest and most effective manner since a “swift investigation would help end hearsay and assure the Lebanese people and all of us about the legal process and that matters are proceeding on the right track.”
The 1989 Taif agreement signed between various warring Lebanese parties and factions ending 15 years of civil war in their country stresses that Syria had to shift its troops from Beirut and other parts of Lebanon to the eastern Bekaa Valley, and the two countries should agree on a schedule for full pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
Syria still has some 14,000 troops in Lebanon, though it has redeployed its forces in its small neighbor several times since the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990.
Moussa, whose visit to Syria was initially scheduled on Feb. 23, pushed his meeting with President Bashar two days forward after the deteriorating situation in the region following Hariri’s assassination. Lebanese opposition has accused Syria of being behind Hariri’s killing, a charge that was immediately denied by the Syrian leadership.
Moussa met Bashar and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara as thousands of demonstrators thronged the seafront in Beirut to urge Damascus to recall its troops from Lebanon after the killing of Hariri.
However, the Arab League chief made no comment about the sharp increase in pressure on Damascus to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and to stop meddling in its smaller neighbor as demanded by a UN resolution.
In September, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1559 calling for an end to all foreign interference in Lebanon and for militias to be dismantled.
