Syria set to remove troops from central Lebanon to border

Syrian Bashar Assad was yesterday expected to announce the pullback of his troops in Lebanon closer to the Syrian border, but US President George W. Bush has rejected anything but a full withdrawal as unacceptable.

Assad's expected to be made during a rare speech to parliament, is seen as a bid to ease incessant Arab and US-led international pressure regarding the presence of 15,000 Syrian troops in Lebanon and the risk of isolation.

In a beefing up of security before his speech, plainclothes Syrian security agents stood outside the two-story People's Assembly building in Damascus' downtown Salhiya neighborhood as police towed away parked cars in streets leading to the legislature.

Syria's Tishrin daily carried a headline saying Assad's speech would be about "current political developments," while an editorial called for Arab nations to stand by Syria's side.

"If they [the challengers] are targeting Syria and Lebanon today they will be challenges against all Arabs in the near future," Tishrin said.

Assad's address comes after a rough week, beginning with the resignation of his allied government in Lebanon and ending with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah telling him face-to-face to get all his forces out of Lebanon quickly.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem believes Assad will announce a pullback of his country's troops in his speech, his first to the parliament in two years.

In Moscow, Mouallem told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Syrian and Lebanese leaders have agreed on an action plan for carrying out the 1989-Arab brokered Taif Accord. But he would not say when.

The accord calls for Syria to move its troops in Lebanon to the border, then for both countries to negotiate their withdrawal.

Lebanese Minister Abdul-Rahim Murad -- a member of the pro-Syria government, which remains in place as a caretaker -- said Assad was expected to announce "a redeployment to the Bekaa region" in eastern Lebanon.

Past particularly since 2000, have seen some Syrian troops return, but Murad said Assad wants to keep some troops here in the long term and conduct a complete removal after negotiating with Lebanon's governments in line with the Taif Accord.

Bush redeployment alone as a "half-measure," while Arab leaders would likely be dissatisfied by such a move.

Bush Syria's troops and its intelligence agents out of Lebanon by May, when Lebanese parliamentary elections are to be held.

"This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out," he told the New York Post.

Bush there was no threat of military action, but Arab nations worry Washington or the UN may take tough measures to push Syria into leaving Lebanon, which Damascus has dominated for more than a decade.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt are leading Arab efforts to get Syria to go beyond a redeployment and quickly remove all troops.

Syria faces pressure from Lebanon's opposition, which forced the resignation of the pro-Damascus government this week with a giant protest by 25,000 people, fueled by anger over the Feb. 14 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.