Syria's partial retreat denounced
The withdrawal of Syrian troops to Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley will be completed by the end of March, the presidents of the neighbouring Mideast nations agreed today.
But they deferred a final troop pullout until later negotiations.
The announcement, made after a meeting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, did not impress the White House or thousands of Lebanese packed into Beirut’s Martyr’s Square.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan denounced the announcment as “a half measure".
“We stand with the Lebanese people and the Lebanese people, I think, are speaking very clearly. They want a future that is sovereign, independent and free from outside influence and intimidation,” he said.
In Beirut, 70,000 ardent protesters gathered to demand that Syria leave, more than double the crowds that attended a demonstration last week that led to the toppling of Lebanon’s pro-Syrian government.
Following the meeting in Damascus, the presidents said Syrian troops will pull back from northern and central Lebanon to the east, near Syria’s border.
Following that redeployment, military officials from both countries will decide within a month on “the size and duration of the presence of the Syrian forces” in the Bekaa Valley and establish the relationship between these forces and Lebanese authorities.
“At the end of the agreed upon duration for the presence of Syrian forces,” the announcement said, “the governments of Syria and Lebanon will agree on completion of the withdrawal of the remaining Syrian forces.”
Shortly after the announcement, five Syrian military trucks loaded with furniture headed east up the Lebanese mountains, apparently the first movement of the pullback.
A jeep carrying a general also climbed the road toward the Dahr El-Baidar mountain pass that leads to the Bekaa.
The agreement did not set a specific timetable for that complete withdrawal, which could fall short of international demands that Syria completely pull its troops from its eastern neighbour.
However, it stated, “The Syrian and Lebanese agree on continuing the withdrawal of Syrian Arab forces.”
In Washington, the Syrian ambassador, Imad Moustapha, said all its troops will be out of Lebanon within a few months. The withdrawal will be done in two stages, he said.
“We entered Lebanon to end a bloody civil war,” Moustapha said. “Now we are withdrawing in compliance with international law. We are giving a good example to the rest of the Middle East.”
French President Jacques Chirac, who has been at the forefront of calls for Syria to remove its 15,000 troops and intelligence officers, said: “I note simply that the international community is unanimous in demanding that Lebanon be able to express itself freely and democratically, and that naturally presupposes the withdrawal of foreign forces and particularly security forces.”
Keeping up the intense pressure as their president met with the Syrian leader about a troop withdrawal, tens of thousands of Lebanese united in a massive demonstration today.
“Freedom! Sovereignty! Independence!” shouted the young and old, rallying under a sea of waving flags and anti-Syrian fervour.
At least 70,000 people – some estimates put the figure at 100,000 or even double that number – thronged Beirut, buoyed by their success in forcing the resignation of the government exactly a week ago in a demonstration of 25,000.
Most of the crowd waved Lebanon’s red and white flag, distinctive with the green cedar tree in the centre. ”Syria out!” was the most regular cry. Many also raised photographs of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose assassination three weeks ago today triggered the angry, though peaceful, “independence uprising.”
