DAMASCUS, 25 February 2005 — Syria yesterday started redeploying its troops in neighboring Lebanon as part of its implementation of the 1989 Taif Accord, said a Lebanese minister.
Abdurrahim Murad, Lebanese defense minister, said Syria yesterday began the sixth phase of redeploying all its 14,000 troops in Lebanon in the eastern Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border.
“This step was taken in coordination between the governments of the two countries in respect to the terms of the Taif agreement,” Murad told Al-Jazeera TV, adding that the Syrian troops would redeploy in the Bekaa Valley for now and would fully withdraw from Lebanon later.
Earlier in the day, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said his country was ready to redeploy its forces in Lebanon. However, he warned that before accelerating the rhythm of redeployment of Syrian forces in Lebanon, it would be essential for both countries to fill in the security vacuum without damaging the national security of both nations.
“The huge redeployments of Syrian troops in Lebanon during the past few years and the steps to be taken in this regard during the next few days would be in full coordination between the governments of the two countries as part of the implementation of the Taif agreement,” Muallem stressed.
The number of Syrian troops in Lebanon was reduced from nearly 40,000 in 1989 to 14,000 in a series of partial redeployments carried out since 2000.
The Taif Accord, signed by various warring Lebanese parties and factions ending the 1975-90 civil war, stressed that Syrian troops be redeployed in Bekaa Valley near the eastern Syrian-Lebanese borders within two years and the two countries had to reach an agreement for full pullback of Syrian troops from Lebanon, leaving the timeframe for the two governments to decide.
A UN Security Council resolution was passed in September last year demanding that all foreign troops be withdrawn from Lebanon.
Syria and Lebanon ignored Resolution 1559 considering it as part of the US and Israeli pressure to force them to start unconditional peace talks with Israel.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon by April, when he is due to present a report on the issue to the Security Council. Al-Arabiya television said Annan told it in an interview that he was referring to a full withdrawal of Syrian troops, not a redeployment.
In an interview with Reuters, Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami said a quick Syrian withdrawal would destabilize the country. Asked about international and Lebanese opposition calls for an immediate pullout, Karami said: “In our opinion, it would shake the stability of the country”.
“Driving Syria out of Lebanon through challenges, provocation and curses cannot leave the country relaxed and stable. (A Syrian withdrawal) can only take place through consensus,” he said.
