Syria begins troop withdrawal
2005-03-08 08:09
Mdeirej - Syrian soldiers loaded trucks with furniture and other supplies and drove east from the Lebanese mountain posts they have held for decades, the first signs of a redeployment to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. But no deadline was set for their complete withdrawal, and Washington rejected the pullback as insufficient.
Lacking a timeline, the plan also was unlikely to satisfy the Lebanese opposition and the international community, which have demanded that all 14 000 Syrian soldiers leave the country.
More than 70 000 Lebanese shouting "Freedom! Sovereignty! Independence!" thronged Beirut on Monday in the biggest demonstration yet of anti-Syria anger that has fuelled recent street protests. The demonstrators waved Lebanon's cedar-tree flag and thundered, "Syria out!"
"Yes, for withdrawal to the Bekaa, but, yes, first to the full withdrawal behind the Lebanese-Syrian border," opposition lawmaker Walid Eido told the protesters.
Syria dominates Lebanon
The demonstrators marched to the site of the February 14 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and touched off the angry but peaceful street protests that drove Lebanon's pro-Syrian government to resign a week ago. Many Lebanese accuse the Syrian government and their former government of responsibility for Hariri's death; both deny any involvement.
Earlier on Monday, Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, met in Syria's capital, Damascus, to outline plans for shifting Syrian troops closer to the border by the end of March. But they were vague on the timing of a complete withdrawal from Lebanon.
Foes of the Syrian presence are calling for demonstrations to continue. One group raised a banner on Monday that read, "Today we have one target: To liberate our land."
But in a sign of the divisions in Lebanon, the militant Islamic group Hezbollah urged a counterdemonstration on Tuesday to show loyalty to Syria and denounce international interference.
Syria has had troops here since 1976, when they were sent as peacekeepers during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. When the war ended, the troops remained and Syria has dominated Lebanon's politics since.
The United States, France, Russia, Germany and the United Nations Security Council have firmly demanded that Syria withdraw all the troops and stop interfering in the affairs of its smaller neighbour. French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder issued a joint statement Monday calling for a full pullout "as soon as possible."
- AP