Roundup: Syria Redeploys Troops in Lebanese Capital

Syria has withdrawn troops from some key positions in Lebanon's capital of Beirut, sending a reconciliation gesture to the widening circle of Lebanese who oppose Syria's military presence.

Lebanese official sources described the move, which began on Wednesday night, as "a security measure" with more political implications.

Rather than being a simple military maneuver, the redeployment has been perceived as an attempt to defuse tensions, caused by mounting opposition to Syrian military presence in Lebanon.

Syria sent troops to Lebanon as peacekeepers in 1976 to help end a civil war between Lebanon's Christians and Muslims. After the 15- year Lebanese civil war ended in 1990, some 35,000 Syrian troops remain in Lebanon. The two countries also agree to coordinate their stances on the key issues.

Lebanese Christians accuse Syria of interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs and claim that some 350,000 Syrians "are grabbing jobs and wealth from Lebanese."

The Syrian Army Directorate issued a statement on the redeployment on Thursday, announcing that the move began in positions in eastern Beirut, near the presidential palace and the Defense Ministry.

Syrian troops stationing in these locations of sensitivity were often viewed as violations of Lebanese sovereignty. By withdrawing from these positions, the Syrian army may be trying to demonstrate that the fears for the violations of Lebanese sovereignty were unfounded.

Syrian military sources said that 7,000 troops left 14 positions in and around Beirut and that they would be redeployed in the Bekaa Valley in central Lebanon.

In an exceptional departure under rigid military rules, hundreds of media cameramen were allowed to film the troops aboard military vehicles.

Informed sources said that the decision on redeployment was taken last September. But when Lebanese right-wingers waged a campaign to try to force a full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, Syria suspended the troop redeployment to avoid the impression that it was succumbing to pressure.

Syrian officials reportedly said that Syrian soldiers "could not be demanded to withdraw amid a challenging atmosphere."

In general, the redeployment was welcomed by various Lebanese political groups, particularly the opposition, which viewed it as a first step toward a more extensive withdrawal and as a necessary move to rectify the bilateral relations.

Christian Maronite Catholic Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir expressed cautious optimism over the Syrian redeployment, saying that "it is a step forward, but we still have a long way to go to reach a balanced relation with Syria."

The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) chief, Walid Jumblatt, said on Thursday that the withdrawal was bound to "re-shape relations between the two countries on sounder foundations."

Sfeir and Jumblatt have spearheaded a campaign for a time-tabled Syrian military pullout from Lebanon since last September. Sfeir insists that Syria has no legal basis to deploy troops in Lebanon, especially after Israeli troops withdrew from south Lebanon in May 2000.

Under the 1989 Taif Accord, which ended Lebanon's civil war, Syrian troops should have withdrawn from Beirut to the mountain areas in central Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley several years ago.

Diplomats in Beirut said that it is difficult and premature to assess the significance of the Syrian move. Damascus has yet to pledge its commitment to the terms of the Taif Accord.

"They (the Syrians) are waiting for Lebanese reactions to the redeployment operation to decide whether to complete it or suspend it," Lebanon's leading paper An Nahar said on Friday.






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