Syrian troops say farewell to Lebanon
Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon today with a farewell ceremony near their shared border, where a Syrian commander told Lebanese troops: “Brothers in arms, so long.” The soldiers responded: “So long.”
A commander of Lebanese soldiers, then addressed his words to the Syrians, saying: “Brothers in arms, thank you for your sacrifices.” His soldiers repeated: “Thank you for your sacrifices.”
The Syrians entered Lebanon in 1976, ostensibly as peacekeepers in the year-old civil war. After the war ended in 1990, about 40,000 Syrian troops remained, giving Damascus the decisive say in Lebanese politics.
Anger over the February 14 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri helped turn the tide against Syria’s long-time presence in Lebanon. Unconvinced by Syrian and Lebanese government denials of involvement, pressure to leave snowballed.
Huge “Syria Out” demonstrations in Beirut brought down the pro-Syrian government, and UN and US pressure intensified on Damascus until it withdrew its army.
General Ali Habib, Syria’s chief of staff, said in a speech during the departure ceremony, in which the last 250 Syrian soldiers in Lebanon participated, that Assad had decided to pull out his troops after the Lebanese army was “rebuilt on sound national foundations and became capable of protecting the state”.
Habib said Syria had no “ambitions in Lebanon, except to protect it”.
By withdrawing, he said that Syria will have “fulfilled all its obligations toward” UN Resolution 1559, which called on it to pull out.
In the capital, Beirut, meanwhile, relatives of Lebanese prisoners held in Syrian jails scuffled with the army and beat politicians’ cars with the Lebanese flag during a demonstration today outside parliament demanding the release of their loved ones.
Two protesters were seen being loaded into a Civil Defence ambulance while two others received first aid on the scene of the demonstration in Beirut.
The farewell ceremony came as Lebanon’s new cabinet, led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, went to parliament today to seek a vote of confidence.
It opened with Lebanese and Syrian military commanders placing a wreath of flowers at a cornerstone they laid for a monument to commemorate the Syrian military presence in Lebanon.
As military honours were read out, troops punctuated the ceremony with chants supportive of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The 250 Syrian soldiers in red berets and camouflage, the last Syrian troops remaining in Lebanon, shouted: “We sacrifice our blood and our souls for you, oh Bashar!” during the ceremony at the army air base at Rayak, a few miles from the Syrian border.
Recipients of medals exchanged as a sign of appreciation included Major General Rustom Ghazale, the Syrian intelligence chief in Lebanon, and Brigadier General Asef Shawkat, Assad’s brother-in-law whom he had recently appointed as Syria’s chief of military intelligence.
On the Lebanese side, army commander Michel Suleiman received a medal from the Syrian government.
Shortly before the ceremony began, Brigadier General Elias Farhat, director of the Lebanese Army Orientation Department said: “Those are the ones left,” referring to Syrian soldiers who marched in Rayak, holding their AK-47 rifles to their chests.
He said the Syrian withdrawal did not mean an end to Lebanese-Syrian relationship. “The military deployment of the Syrian army is part of this relationship which links the two countries,” he said.
Farhat pointed to the 1991 Lebanese-Syrian Brotherhood, Co-operation and Co-ordination Treaty, which calls, among other things, for the two countries to closely co-ordinate on security and defence matters and jointly work to fight sabotage, espionage and prevent any hostile activity against any country.
With the Syrians leaving, its Lebanese allies in the security services also were collapsing. Major General Jamil Sayyed – often described as the enforcer of Damascus’ policy – announced his resignation yesterday, and another top security commander left the country with his family.
Also yesterday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan dispatched a team to verify whether Syria has withdrawn all its troops from Lebanon, as it had promised to do under an agreement with the United Nations.
The verification team will be led by Senegalese Brigadier General Mouhamadou Kandji, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Another UN team of logistic and communications experts will arrive in Beirut later in the week to lay the groundwork for a probe into Hariri’s assassination.
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