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Syria pledges troop pullback

President Assad says country will move soldiers to Lebanon border; U.S. says the plan is not enough

BY MOHAMAD BAZZI | MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT

March 6, 2005

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian President Bashar Assad pledged Saturday to pull back his 14,000 troops to the "Syrian-Lebanese border," leaving open the possibility that Syrian soldiers will remain inside Lebanon and setting himself on a potential collision course with the United States.

In a rare address to the Syrian parliament in Damascus, Assad did not specify when the redeployment would begin, but he said a joint Syrian-Lebanese security committee would meet this week to work out the details. Assad said the pullback would take place in two stages, first to the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon and later to the border.

"We will completely withdraw our forces from Lebanon to the Bekaa valley and then to the area of the Syrian-Lebanese border," Assad said, drawing applause from those who gathered outside parliament. "At the end of this process, Syria will have fulfilled its responsibilities under the Taif Accord and UN Resolution 1559."

But the United States, which has led international pressure on Damascus to withdraw troops and end its political dominance over Lebanon, was not satisfied. Washington said Assad fell short of President George W. Bush's demand for a full withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence agents before Lebanon holds parliamentary elections in May.

"President Assad's announcement is not enough," the State Department said in a statement. "When the United States and France say withdraw, we mean complete withdrawal -- no halfhearted measures."

Tempered optimism

Leaders of the Lebanese opposition, which pressured the Syrian-backed government in Beirut to resign last week, were divided on whether Assad was sincere in his commitment to withdraw. "This is a positive start," said Walid Jumblatt, the most prominent opposition leader, and once close Syrian ally. "We must now insist on a timetable for the withdrawal."

Former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel warned of Assad's vague language. "President Assad said a withdrawal to the Syrian-Lebanese border. Does that mean there will be Syrian troops on the Lebanese side of the border?" Gemayel told Lebanese television. "That issue needs to be clarified."

Syrian cabinet minister Buthaina Shaaban insisted there will be no troops left on Lebanese soil. "President Assad's speech was clear," she told Lebanese television. "The soldiers will be inside Syria, not inside Lebanon."

Assad's government has come under intense international scrutiny in recent weeks for three reasons: Washington accuses it of harboring former members of Saddam Hussein's regime and supporting the Iraqi insurgency; many Lebanese blame it for the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; and Israel accused it of organizing a Feb. 25 suicide bombing that killed five people in Tel Aviv.

In the past, the Syrian regime would try to wait out criticism, but this time, the Bush administration, backed by Syria's former allies in Europe, is determined to force Damascus to pay a political price for Hariri's killing.

Already, Damascus has shown signs of buckling to U.S. pressure. Last week, the Syrians turned over one of Hussein's half brothers to the Iraqi government -- after insisting for two years that former Iraqi Baathists are not finding refuge in Syria. On Monday, the Syrian-picked Lebanese prime minister and his cabinet abruptly resigned amid growing popular demands for Syria to end its meddling in Lebanese affairs. After the resignation, Lebanese opposition leaders were confident that Syria would finally withdraw its troops after first deploying them in 1976 as Lebanon descended into a 15-year civil war.

But some Lebanese expected a stronger commitment from Assad Saturday. "Until it happens, nobody is going to believe him," said Chibli Mallat, a law professor at Beirut's Saint-Joseph University and an opposition activist. "He was untrustworthy and dithering."

Assad used most of his hour-long speech to highlight his efforts to negotiate with the United States over Iraq and the Syrian presence in Lebanon. He noted that Syria had 40,000 troops in Lebanon until it began to gradually withdraw them in 2000, at a time "when there was no international pressure."

Assad gauges U.S. sincerity

Analysts say that Assad, 38, an inexperienced leader who came to power after his father's death in 2000, did not seem convinced until recently that the United States is serious about wanting him to change Syrian policies. Since assuming power, Assad has tried to project a better image to the West. Damascus has made economic and social reforms and has argued that it would be a stable ally for the United States. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Syria's vast security apparatus began sharing information with U.S. intelligence agencies about al-Qaida and other militant groups. But that security cooperation ended when U.S. officials started criticizing Syria soon after the fall of the Iraqi regime in April 2003.

In his speech, Assad emphasized that not all Lebanese are against the Syrian presence. "We would not stay one day if there was Lebanese consensus on the departure of Syria," he said, referring to the support Syria enjoys from Lebanon's Shia Muslims, who at 40 percent of the population are the country's largest communal group.

For the first time since the crisis precipitated by Hariri's killing, several thousand Lebanese went into the streets Saturday night in a show of support for Assad and his handpicked Lebanese president, Emile Lahoud. In several cities, demonstrators waved posters of both men, along with Lebanese and Syrian flags. The processions took place in Shia, Sunni and Christian areas.

With Syria on the defensive, the Bush administration has renewed its demands that Assad turn over Iraqi Baathists and expel leaders of the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad who live in Damascus. The United States also wants Syria to disarm the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah, which effectively controls Lebanon's southern border with Israel.