Lebanon Update

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LEBANON UPDATE:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is expected to announce a redeployment of Syrian troops in Lebanon when he addresses his parliament today, say Lebanese politicians.

Mr Assad’s speech, which the Syrian press agency said would deal with “current political developments” follows unprecedented international pressure on Damascus to withdraw its 15,000 troops and its secret services from Lebanon.

After talks with Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, in Moscow yesterday, Walid al-Muallim, Syrian’s deputy foreign minister, said Damascus would soon reveal what he called “an agreement between Syria and Lebanon” which he said would meet the approval of the United Nations Security Council.

Mr Lavrov said he was “satisfied” that Syria would take steps to “correspond” with UN resolution 1559, which calls for all foreign troops to leave Lebanon.

Still too soon to gloat, but this sounds quite promising. Meanwhile, here’s an interesting overview of what’s going on.

us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20050304/capt.sge.pzw83.040305224403.photo00.photo.default-390x261.jpg

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Syria to redeploy Lebanon troops

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40894000/jpg/_40894397_soldiers_ap203body.jpg Syria is under unprecedented pressure to withdraw

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has announced the phased redeployment of Syrian forces in Lebanon.

Addressing Syria’s parliament, Mr Assad said troops would withdraw to the eastern Bekaa Valley and then to the Syrian border.

The US said Mr Assad’s pledge was “not enough” and called for a full pull-out.

Syria has been under intense pressure to withdraw from Lebanon since the February car bomb death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanon’s main opposition leader, Walid Jumblatt, called Mr Assad’s announcement a “positive start” but demanded a clear timetable for the withdrawal.

In the Lebanese capital Beirut, members of the public jeered as they watched the broadcast in a central square.

Obligations 'fulfilled’

In the nationally-televised speech, Mr Assad said: "We will not stay one day if there was Lebanese consensus on the departure of Syria. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif

Our way is a “gradual and organised withdrawal.”

He said after the redeployment, Lebanon and Syria “will have fulfilled our obligations under the Taef accord and under [UN Security Council] Resolution 1559”.

The 1989 Taef accord, which ended the Lebanese civil war, calls for a phased withdrawal of Syrian troops, beginning with redeployment to the Bekaa Valley, while the 2004 UN resolution calls for foreign forces to leave Lebanon.

Mr Assad said Syria was not against a full withdrawal, declaring: “The natural place for Syrian forces is Syrian land.”

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img...4000/gif/_40094142_lebanon2_beirut_map203.gif


In pictures: Assad speech

The president called Mr Hariri’s killing “an atrocious crime… against the unity and stability of Lebanon as well as Syria”, and vowed to bring the culprits to justice.

The US, however, said Mr Assad’s announcement was “not enough”.

“As President Bush said Friday, when the United States and France say withdraw, we mean complete withdrawal - no half-hearted measures,” the state department said in a statement.

But shortly after Mr Assad’s speech, a senior Syrian minister said Syria would pull all its troops back into Syrian territory.

“The matter is very clear. When an army withdraws it withdraws to inside the country’s border,” Syrian Immigrant Affairs Minister Buthaina Shaaban told Lebanese television.

“The political decision has been taken for a complete withdrawal,” she said, adding that it will take place “in the nearest possible time”.

Mixed reaction

Mr Assad’s hour-long speech was punctuated by cheers from legislators and thousands of flag-waving Syrians watching on giant television screens outside parliament.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img...bc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif **I call on the Lebanese to be very careful about the wording **http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif

Michel Aoun
Lebanese opposition figure

The BBC’s Orla Guerin in Damascus says the most important thing was what Mr Assad did not say - he did not provide a timetable for a complete withdrawal.

In Beirut, about 1,000 Lebanese watching the speech in a central square shouted “Syria out!” and denounced the Syrian president.

Exiled Lebanese Christian opposition figure Michel Aoun expressed scepticism about Mr Assad’s intentions.

“I call on the Lebanese to be very careful about the wording and not to be happy over the general meaning,” he told Al-Arabiya television in Paris.

Syria’s arch foe, Israel, said Mr Assad’s remarks “constituted an evasion” of the UN resolution. Israeli Vice-Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Israel could open peace talks with Lebanon if Syria withdrew.
 
Power Line Reports:

A pro-Syria demonstration was staged in Beirut earlier today; the Associated Press headline says: “Shooting Erupts in Beirut Christian Sector”. But as the story makes clear, the shooting didn’t exactly “erupt”:

Volleys of gunfire were heard shortly after a convoy of cars carrying pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which had earlier demonstrated in Muslim south Beirut, headed later to the Christian sector of Ashrafieh, a center of anti-Syrian sentiment. People in the cars exchanged insults with about a dozen men. Gunmen then opened fire from the cars as they drove around, the witnesses said. There appeared to be no casualties.

The shooting appears to be a clumsy attempt to provoke violence that would justify a continued Syrian presence in Lebanon. I thought this was interesting, too. This AP photo news story says: “A pro-Syrian protester fires into the air, in the Christian sector of Ashrafieh, Beirut, during a convoy of cars carrying pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad driving in Beirut, Lebanon.” Here’s the photo:

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/capt.xhm10803052247.mideast_lebanon_syria_xhm108.jpg

That’s not a protester. That’s a thug, and someone is paying him. These are protesters:

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/capt.akcf10703052052.mideast_lebanon_syria_akcf107.jpg

Today Syria’s Assad promised a phased withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon; first they withdraw toward the border, then, at some unspecified time, across the border. His announcement was reportedly greeted joyfully by the anti-Syrian protesters in Beirut. But it’s obviously inadequate. Let’s hope the anti-Syrian movement in Lebanon isn’t too easily satisfied. They, and we, need to keep the pressure on.

UPDATE: President Bush is on the case:

“There are no half-measures at all. When the United States and France say withdraw, we mean complete withdrawal, no halfhearted measures. Syria, Syrian troops, Syria’s intelligence services, must get out of Lebanon now. 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.”

powerlineblog.com/archives/2005_03.php#009763
 
It is not all innocent fun:

Breaking news: Lebanese Civilian Shot

Charbel Ghanem, 18, was shot while protesting in Saifi, he is apparently being treated at Hotel Dieu hospital. Armed men shot him from a moving vehicle, carrying partisan flags. The details remain vague, I will update as soon as I learn more.

Our prayers are with Charbel and his family, and may God preserve our Lebanon from these traitors.
 
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