Syria to Redeploy Troops in Lebanon “Within Hours”

“The Lebanese and Syrian leaderships have met and decided on the sixth redeployment of the Syrian forces in Lebanon. They took the decision to start the redeployment in the next few hours,” Mrad told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He stressed that once the new deployment is completed “all the Syrian forces will be in the Bekaa Valley” near the Lebanese borders with Syria.

Syrian troops were seen packing their bags and preparing to move in the Aley district northeast of the capital on the main mountain road between Beirut and Damascus.

“We are awaiting the green light,” one Syrian officer told AFP.

Mrad said the two governments would jointly decide on the next steps in accordance with the 1989 Taif agreement, which put an end to Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.

That accord 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.

There have been a series of redeployments since June 2001, which 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.

But 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.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed envoy Terje Roed-Larsen to oversee its implementation.

He held talks in Beirut and Damascus just before the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri and expressed optimism about his mission.