DAMASCUS, 6 March 2005 — President Bashar Assad announced yesterday that Syria would move its troops to the Lebanese-Syrian border in a two-step pullback that he said should satisfy international demands for a complete pullout.
In an address to the Syrian Parliament, Bashar said the Syrian troops will first deploy to the eastern Bekaa Valley and then to the Syrian border. The two countries would discuss this week the mechanism of the final withdrawal which will mark an end to 29 years of Syrian military presence in Lebanon.
“I have already spoken to President Emile Lahoud and we both agreed that the Supreme Syrian-Lebanese Council should convene this week to discuss the matter and the arrangements of the final troop withdrawal,” he added.
Bashar’s hour-long speech was interrupted several times by bursts of applause from the 250 MPs who surrounded the president and cheered as he was escorted out of the building.
Thousands of Syrians gathered outside the building watching the proceedings on giant screens. They waved Syrian flags and greeted Bashar’s announcement by chanting “Long Live Bashar, Long Live Syria.”
“Once we achieve this (withdrawal of troops), we would have fully fulfilled our commitments pertaining to the Taif Accord,” the president said, referring to the 1989 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the warring Lebanese factions and parties ending 15 years of civil war in Lebanon.
Later Syrian Cabinet Minister Buthaina Shaaban clarified that Syrian troops would withdraw from Lebanon to the Syrian side of the border. “What the president said, we understood absolutely clearly, is that the troops will withdraw to Syria... on our borders inside Syria,” Shaaban told CNN.
She also said the troops would withdraw “as soon as possible” under the redeployment plan. She said a meeting on Monday between the Syrian and Lebanese leaderships would agree on the details, including the timing.
The US State Department said Syria’s announcement was not enough. “President Al-Assad’s announcement is not enough,” said Darla Jordan, spokeswoman for the State Department.
“The international community has made clear that Syria must withdraw completely and immediately all its military forces and intelligence services from Lebanon in accordance with UNSCR 1559,” she said.
Lebanese greeted the announcement with screams of delight in central Beirut, while opposition figures in Lebanon and the European Union cautiously described the move as a positive start.
— Additional input from agencies
