Syria Completes Lebanon Redeployment by End-March

“The two sides affirmed their commitment to the Taif Accord and its mechanism … and their respect to all resolutions issued by the international legitimacy including resolution 1559,” the two leaders said in a statement issued after their summit meeting.

They “decided on the redeployment of Syrian forces to the Bekaa … before the end of March,” added the statement.

The two leaders called for a joint military committee “to draw up an agreement within a month of the redeployment of Syrian forces to the Bekaa … establishing the number of Syrian personnel and the duration of their stay.”

On Saturday, Assad told parliament he would withdraw Syrian troops to the Bekaa and then to the borders.

“By this measure Syria would have fulfilled its commitment towards the Taif Agreement and implemented Resolution 1559,” he told lawmakers.

The agreement, which put an end to Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, provides for “the two governments to determine the strength and duration of the presence of the Syrian forces” but does not set a specific deadline for a Syrian withdrawal.

Last September the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1559 sponsored by Paris and Washington demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon, a clear reference to the Syrian forces.

Troops Moving

On the ground in Lebanon, a Syrian military convoy of nine trucks and two jeeps was seen headed Monday on the Beirut-Damascus road towards the Bekaa Valley, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoting witnesses in the area.

It was not immediately clear whether the trucks were transporting equipment or soldiers as they were covered.

Elsewhere, Syrian soldiers posted at Dahr al-Wahsh, about 12 kilometers east of Beirut, were seen emptying buildings.

Syrian soldiers based in the Lebanese mountain towns of Hamana, Mdairij, Soufar and Aley were dismantling communications equipment or loading personal belongings and military gear on military trucks, Reuters quoted witnesses as saying.

Some trucks with equipment and a few dozen soldiers from several positions then headed towards the border. Other soldiers stayed behind.

A series of redeployments have seen Syrian troop numbers fall from a high of 40,000 after they first moved in a year after the start of Lebanon’s civil war to the current 14,000.