Syria promised the UN on Tuesday that it will withdraw all troops from Lebanon before parliamentary elections but didn't mention a pullout of its intelligence operatives as demanded by the Security Council.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa made the withdrawal pledge in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the council, which was sharply critical of a UN-backed investigation into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The date for parliamentary elections has not been set and the Syrian minister did not give a timetable for the pullout. Parliament's term ends on May 31 but there are doubts on whether the crucial elections can be held on time in April and May.
Last week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Syrian President Bashar Assad met on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Algiers and agreed that a timetable would be ready in time for a visit to Damascus by a UN envoy in the first week of April. Annan said he expects the envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, to return with a "credible and well-defined timetable."
Al-Sharaa told the council that internal peace in Lebanon "enabled Syria automatically to reduce its forces in Lebanon from 40,000 to 10,000 troops."
"In addition, it will carry out a complete withdrawal of those troops before the coming elections in Lebanon," he said.
Syria sent troops to its smaller neighbor in 1976 to help quell what was then a year-old civil war but the troops remained after the war ended in 1990. Damascus is seen as pulling the strings in Lebanese politics -- most recently in pressing for a constitutional amendment to allow a second term for pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
The Security Council adopted a resolution on Sept. 2 last year calling on Syria to withdraw all its troops and intelligence operatives and urging Lebanon's parliament not to amend the constitution. Parliament approved an amendment hours later extending Lahoud's term for three years.
A UN-backed investigation into the Feb. 14 assassination of Hariri determined that Lebanon's authorities bungled, if not outright manipulated, their probe of the Hariri killing and demanded a new international investigation.
It did not directly blame Syria for the assassination of Hariri, an opponent of the Syrian presence in Lebanon, but said Damascus was behind the political tension and weak security that led to his death -- a conclusion al-Sharaa rejected.
The Syrian minister blamed the Security Council resolution for increasing tensions in Lebanon and creating a sharp political division in the country.
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