Syrian forces complete Lebanon withdrawal
Syria today informed the United Nations its forces have completed their withdrawal from Lebanon, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that “all Arab Syrian forces have returned to Syria,” a statement from the ministry said.
“The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic would like to officially inform you that the Syrian Arab Forces stationed in Lebanon at the request of Lebanon and under an Arab mandate have fully withdrawn all their military, security apparatus and assets to their positions in Syria,” al-Sharaa’s letter said.
His letter was made public less than three hours after the last Syrian soldiers were seen leaving neighbouring Lebanon at the end of a small military ceremony at a Lebanese airbase near the border.
Their departure ended Syria’s 29-year military involvement in Lebanon.
A UN resolution in September demanded Syrian forces leave. Annan was expected to submit a report to the UN Security Council later today on Syria’s compliance with the resolution.
Al-Sharaa, in his letter to Annan, said Syria’s compliance with “all the relevant provisions” in the UN resolution ”was primarily dictated by Syria’s unwavering commitment to the charter of the United Nations and its resolutions.”
Referring to Israel, he said Syria’s compliance with international resolutions “is an example that ought to be emulated.”
Arab nations often complain they are pressured to abide by UN resolutions but Israel is not.
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.
Gen 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.”
