Thursday, Mar 31, 2005
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By Atul Aneja
MANAMA, MARCH 30. Syria has declared that it would pull out all its troops from Lebanon before the country's elections in May. The Syrian decision was conveyed to the United Nations by Foreign Minister, Farouk Al-Shaara. Reuters news agency quoted Syrian U.N. Ambassador, Fayssal Mekdad, as saying that a joint Syrian-Lebanese committee would meet before Saturday to set a timetable for full withdrawal.
U.N. resolution
The U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 has demanded a full Syrian military pullout as well the disarming of all militia grouping Lebanon-a move that targets the well armed Hizbullah organization.
The Shia dominated Hizbullah, which has been backed by Syria and Iran has already declared that it would not give up its weapons.
Syrian forces entered Lebanon in 1976 to quell a civil war, involving Maronite Christians, Druze, Sunni and Shia communities.
From a peak of 30,000 in the eighties, around 14,000 troops were stationed in the country, prior to a spate of pro and anti-Syrian protests following the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, last month. It is estimated that only around 8,000 Syrian troops are currently present in Lebanon.
Mr. Al Shaara's letter follows an announcement by senior United Nations official, Terje Roed-Larsen, on March 12 that Syria had agreed to pull out all its troops and intelligence services from Lebanon.
Two-stage operation
In his statement, Mr. Roed-Larsen had said "the first stage will see the relocation of all military forces and intelligence apparatus to the Bekaa Valley by the end of March".
Mr. Roed-Larsen added that in the second stage Syria would withdraw its military personnel, assets and intelligence apparatus completely.
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