Bush demands full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon
President Bush warned Syria today that a partial troop withdrawal from Lebanon, expected to be announced tomorrow, is unacceptable.
“There are no half-measures at all,” Bush said in New Jersey. “When the United States and France say withdraw, we mean complete withdrawal, no half-hearted measures.”
During an unscheduled speech to parliament in Damascus tomorrow, Syrian President Bashar Assad is expected to announce a troop pullback to eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border – but not a full withdrawal.
Syria’s official news agency said the speech will ”deal with current political developments”, but did not give details.
It comes as Damascus is under intense pressure from Arab nations and the international community to quickly remove all its 15,000 troops from Lebanon, where Syria has held sway for more than a decade.
“We need to see action, not words,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Saudi Arabia, one of Syria’s main bankers, has also told Assad to pull out and warned him their relations will suffer if he doesn’t start soon.
Bush welcomed that new pressure, saying he was pleased to hear the same message from Saudi Arabia that has been pressed by a growing list of nations.
“Syria, Syrian troops, Syria’s intelligence services, must get out of Lebanon now,” the president said.
“The world is beginning to speak with one voice. We want that democracy in Lebanon to succeed, and we know it cannot succeed so long as she is occupied by a foreign power and that power is Syria.”
The president said he wants Syria’s long-time presence in Lebanon and influence on its political affairs ended by May.
The pressure on Assad, a former London eye doctor, increased last month following the assassination in Beirut of a former Lebanese prime minister who opposed the Syrian presence in his country.
Since then street protests have been an almost daily occurrence in the capital.
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