BEIRUT, 5 April 2005 — The second and final phase of Syria’s troop withdrawal from Lebanon will start on April 7 and conclude as announced by April 30, a Lebanese military source said yesterday.

The source said the timing and details of the pullout, which involves 8,000 troops, were agreed at a meeting of Syrian and Lebanese military commanders in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.

Syria began moving its troops and intelligence agents to the Bekaa or across the Syrian border on March 8 under the first phase of a plan announced by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Lebanese military sources said the first phase had been completed on March 17, but they and witnesses have reported more Syrian troops crossing the border since then.

Lebanese troops yesterday took over a key Syrian checkpoint on the Beirut-Damascus highway and the Syrians prepared to abandon a nearby intelligence building, witnesses said.

Syrian intelligence agents had manned the roadblock at the eastern town of Shtoura in the Bekaa Valley for nearly three decades. The Syrians also vacated their military hospital in Shtoura, moving out in 15 trucks and other vehicles.

Senior Syrian and Lebanese military officers met in the Bekaa to agree on the details of Syria’s plan to withdraw its remaining forces from Lebanon by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, a United Nations envoy discussed a UN demand for the disarmament of Hezbollah fighters with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud yesterday, but reported no agreement.

Syria promised the envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, on Sunday that it would end its military and intelligence presence in Lebanon by April 30 in line with Security Council resolution 1559.

But the US - and French-sponsored measure, adopted in September, calls for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, as well as the departure of all foreign forces.

Roed-Larsen told reporters he and Lahoud had discussed the militia issue, but gave no indication of an agreement. “We have decided to continue our dialogue,” he said, adding that he expected to meet the president again during his visit to Beirut.

Lebanon officially opposes disarming Hezbollah, saying the group is not a militia but a resistance force fighting Israeli occupation of Shebaa Farms, a sliver of border land.

The United Nations views the territory as Syrian, not Lebanese, and has certified that Israel, then under frequent Hezbollah attack, completed its pullout from Lebanon in 2000.

Hezbollah, the only Lebanese faction permitted openly to keep its weapons since the 1975-90 civil war, is also a powerful political group, with 12 seats in the 128-member Parliament and wide support among Shiites, Lebanon’s biggest community.

Roed-Larsen also called for “timely” elections in Lebanon following Syria’s troop withdrawal that Damascus has promised to complete in less than four weeks.

On the ground, the Syrian pullout continued in what Roed-Larsen termed a “speedy process” while the Lebanese and Syrian army commands agreed on a withdrawal plan for the next phase.

The special envoy held talks with Lebanese leaders on Syria’s troop withdrawal under international supervision, a day after Damascus promised its last soldier would be out by the end of this month.

Roed-Larsen insisted on “timely” elections. The talks focused on the sending of a team of UN experts to verify the full withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence assets.

“We are discussing now the practical modalities on how to do this,” the envoy said.

Roed-Larsen said he and Lahoud also agreed on holding elections “in a timely fashion” for the sake of Lebanon’s security.