Saturday 05 March 2005, 2:24 Makka Time, 23:24 GMT
As reported by al-Jazeera, the Syrian soldiers are probably going to leave Lebanon before expected, it remains unclear how many of them will be redeployed.
UN demands for a complete withdrawal of the troops but a Lebanese Minister announced on Friday that Syria was searching for guarantees from the that are countries diplomatically involved.
Meanwhile, Sergei Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister) was optimistic and said that Damascus acted in harmony with UN resolution (No.1559).
President Bush repeated yesterday that only a complete withdrawal of the Syrian troops will be
accepted.
The Lebanese Minister, speaking in condition af anonymity said,
"We expect an announcement for a pullback into the Baka [valley] before the Arab summit.[scheduled for March 23]." and he added that,
"The announcement for a complete withdrawal will depend on political consultations."
"Syria wants guarantees, a sort of a roadmap, and wants consultations at the regional and international levels for the resumption of the peace process."
The reason why Syria is still keeping troops in Lebanon is to defend herself against Israel's army that occupied the Golan Heights, taken from Damascus in 1967.
Il Romanaccio at 11:09 AM
