Syria begins withdrawing troops form Lebanon

[MKSheppard]

Run home you arabist bastards

Syria Begins Pulling Troops From Lebanon

By JOSEPH PANOSSIAN
Associated Press Writer

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Hundreds of Syrian soldiers stationed in the hills near Lebanon's capital began dismantling their bases Tuesday in an effort to appease a U.N. Security Council demand that all 20,000 Syrian troops leave the country.

But with a senior Lebanese military official saying the 3,000 soldiers were only moving away from Beirut and not out of Lebanon, the effort was unlikely to satisfy the Security Council, the United States, Israel or critics of the Syrian presence.

The Lebanese official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said preparations for the redeployment began Tuesday and the move should be completed within a few days.

But by evening there was no sign of troop movement in the areas included in the first stage of the shift: the hilly coastal towns of Aramoun, Chuwiefat, Damour, Doha and Khaldeh, south of Beirut, and Dhourt al-Chouair to the north.



At Dhourt al-Chouair, 15 miles north of Beirut, Syrian soldiers seen through the gate of the camp appeared to be going about usual chores - cooking dinner, gathering wood. Soldiers at the gate expressed surprise at the sudden appearance of journalists and ordered them to leave.

Early this month, a divided U.N. Security Council approved a resolution introduced by the United States and France demanding that foreign forces leave Lebanon.

It also demanded that Lebanon hold a presidential election. But Lebanese lawmakers amended the constitution to keep pro-Syria President Emile Lahoud in office for three more years, underlining Syria's grip on politics in its smaller neighbor.

In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said the United States remains "deeply concerned about Syrian intervention in Lebanon." He reiterated that Syria needs to withdraw all its forces to meet the demands of the Security Council resolution.

Lebanese Defense Minister Mahmoud Hammoud, emerging from a meeting Tuesday of senior Lebanese and Syrian military officers in Beirut, said the redeployment indicated "the security situation in Lebanon is becoming more stabilized."

Syria sent troops to Lebanon in 1976 to help quell a sectarian civil war. But they remained after the war ended in 1990, and Lebanon's government repeatedly has said their presence has been a stabilizing factor. Most of the 20,000 Syrian soldiers now in Lebanon are based in the Bekaa Valley near Syria.

By moving troops away from the capital, Syria hopes to quiet increasingly vocal Lebanese and international opposition to its military presence in Lebanon.

Ahmad Haj Ali, an adviser to Syria's information minister, said in a telephone interview that the redeployment was a "positive step" that he expected to be looked on favorably by the Security Council.

"It is not negative even to say it came in order to better Syrian-American ties, which is something we are searching for," he added.

The redeployment comes two weeks before U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to update the Security Council on the situation.

In Jerusalem, Israeli government officials said they were waiting to see if the move would be more than cosmetic.

"The Syrians have to ... remove all troops from Lebanon so that it is sovereign," said Gideon Meir, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official. "They have to close the offices of all Palestinian terror organizations and stop harboring terrorists, and they have to stop all support for the Hezbollah terror organization."

Syria has linked calls for its troops to leave Lebanon to past U.N. resolutions demanding Israel pull out of Arab lands. Israel has held Syria's Golan Heights since the 1967 Middle East war and Syria wants the land returned in exchange for any peace deal.

Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year occupation, but Lebanon and Syria say Israel still holds Lebanese land, the Chebaa Farms area. The United Nations says Chebaa Farms is Syrian territory and should be negotiated between Syria and Israel.

Christian opponents of Lebanon's government insist Syria should withdraw all its troops, saying the security situation has improved since Israel ended its occupation. The government, with the support of the country's Muslim majority, says the Syrians are still needed until there is a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace

[frigidmagi]

Run little screwballs run...

The question seems to be how far will they run and how long will they stay away?

[CaptainChewbacca]

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Get the fuck out and STAY the fuck out!

[Bob the Gunslinger]

NOW who's going to terrorize Israel's northern regions?

I'm glad that someone is taking us seriously. Maybe Iran will be next... Nah.

[CaptainChewbacca]

NOW who's going to terrorize Israel's northern regions?

I'm glad that someone is taking us seriously. Maybe Iran will be next... Nah.

Libya got the clue, now Syria. Heavy-handed tactics may be useful after all.

[Guardsman Bass]

NOW who's going to terrorize Israel's northern regions?

I'm glad that someone is taking us seriously. Maybe Iran will be next... Nah.

Bah! Hamas will probably move in, or something, like the PLO did 30 years ago.

I bet the Syrians will sneak back in- Lebanon is a power vacuum, after all, and nobody else seems interested in getting in its pants.