BEIRUT, 16 March 2005 — Syrian military intelligence started clearing out of its offices in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli yesterday in line with demands by the United States and the Lebanese opposition.
The movement by the intelligence forces, a widely resented arm through which Damascus controlled many aspects of Lebanese life, came as several thousand pro-Syrian protesters denounced US interference in a march toward the American Embassy in a Beirut suburb that was stopped by police and soldiers.
Syrian agents appeared to be preparing to leave their offices at Ramlet El-Baida on the edge of Beirut. Belongings and furniture were loaded into three trucks, while in the city’s commercial Hamra district, about two dozen Syrian agents vacated an intelligence office during the afternoon, hours after trucks loaded furniture and belongings.
The agents, protected by Lebanese police, drove off from the Hamra office in the trucks. A short time later, a doorman hoisted two Lebanese flags at the entrance. A local resident said about 20 agents left in a van and a car.
The evacuation of the Syrian intelligence service has been a key demand of Lebanese opposition, which orchestrated a gigantic demonstration Monday of over 1 million people in central Beirut.
Of all Syrian military forces in Lebanon, the intelligence agents dealt most directly with Lebanese, setting up checkpoints and arresting people. Lebanese must go to them to get permits and licenses or even to resolve family disputes. Syrian intelligence also have resolved disputed among Lebanese politicians.
Since the Syrian Army withdrew from Beirut in 2000, the headquarters of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon has been in the town of Anjar, a few kilometers from the Lebanese-Syrian border.
The intelligence offices were the only remnants of Syria’s military presence remaining in Beirut.
