BREAKING: Syrian troops begin pullback [to Bekaa Valley; not out of Lebanon]

AP via Yahoo News ^

[Wolfstar]

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer

MDEIREJ, Lebanon - Syrian soldiers loaded trucks with furniture and other supplies Monday and drove east from the Lebanese mountain posts they have held for decades, the first signs of a redeployment to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley announced by the leaders of the neighboring nations.

The pullback began as more than 70,000 Lebanese shouting "Freedom! Sovereignty! Independence!" thronged Beirut in the biggest demonstration yet of anti-Syria anger that has fueled recent street protests. Washington rejected the redeployment as insufficient.

Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, met in Syria's capital, Damascus, to outline plans for shifting Syrian troops closer to the Syrian border by the end of March. But they were vague on the timing of a complete withdrawal from Lebanon.

Lacking a timeline, the plan was unlikely to satisfy the Lebanese opposition and the international community, which have demanded that all 14,000 Syrian soldiers leave the country.

At least 70,000 people — some estimates put the figure at 100,000 or more — demonstrated in downtown Beirut, waving Lebanon's cedar-tree flag and thundering, "Syria out!"

"Yes, for withdrawal to the Bekaa, but, yes, first to the full withdrawal behind the Lebanese-Syrian border," opposition lawmaker Walid Eido told the crowd.

The protesters marched to the site of a Feb. 14 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and touched off the angry but peaceful street protests that drove Lebanon's pro-Syrian government to resign a week ago.

Many Lebanese accuse the Syrian government and their former government of responsibility for Hariri's death. Both deny any involvement.

Foes of the Syrian presence are calling for demonstrations to continue. One group raised a banner Monday reading read, "Today we have one target: To liberate our land."

But in a sign of the divisions in Lebanon, the militant Islamic group Hezbollah urged a counterdemonstration Tuesday to show loyalty to Syria and denounce international interference.

Syria has had troops here since 1976, when they were sent as peacekeepers during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. When the war ended, the troops remained and Syria has dominated Lebanon's politics since.

The United States, France, Russia and the U.N. Security Council have firmly demanded that Syria withdraw all the troops and stop interfering in the affairs of its smaller neighbor. Washington wants a full withdrawal of Syrian soldiers and intelligence agents before Lebanese parliamentary elections expected in April and May.

"We stand with the Lebanese people, and the Lebanese people, I think, are speaking very clearly," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "They want a future that is sovereign, independent and free from outside influence and intimidation."

McClellan called the troop redeployment announced Monday "a half measure."

Assad and Lahoud said Syrian troops will first pull back from northern and central Lebanon to the east, near Syria's border. Then, military officers from both countries will have a month to decide how many Syrian troops should stay in the Bekaa Valley and how long.

After a negotiated time frame, the two governments will "agree to complete the withdrawal of the remaining forces," the announcement said.

In Washington, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, told CNN that Syria would withdraw all its troops within a few months.

"We entered Lebanon to end a bloody civil war," Moustapha said. "Now we are withdrawing in compliance with international law. We are giving a good example to the rest of the Middle East."

A U.N. Security Council resolution in September called on Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon, stop influencing politics here and allow Lebanon to hold a presidential election as scheduled.

The statement issued by Assad and Lahoud said they respected all U.N. resolutions, but added that all "should be implemented without double standard," an apparent reference to U.N. resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian and Syrian lands occupied since 1967.

In the hours after the Syrian and Lebanese leaders met, a scattered movement of Syrian army vehicles began in central Lebanon.

Up to 15 Syrian trucks — carrying equipment, ammunition, weapons, mattresses, personal belongings, one towing a bulldozer, another towing a generator — were seen driving up the snaking highway through the mountains toward the Bekaa Valley. Crews repaired two trucks that broke down on the side of the road.

A jeep carrying a general climbed the road toward the Dahr El-Baidar mountain pass. Five trucks apparently carrying equipment covered by sheets crossed into Syria at sundown at the border point of Masnaa. Twelve empty trucks entered from Syria, apparently to pick up soldiers and equipment.

There was no sign of any movement by the Syrian troops in northern Lebanon.

[Wolfstar]

Although there is movement, as WH Press Secretary Scott McClellan said, it's a half-measure, at best.

[Red Badger]

One Valley......One MOAB.........

[TheBigB]

Movement is better than non-movement. We'll see what happens next.

[bahblahbah]

Many people believe that Bekaa Valley is where Saddam's WMDs are buried.

[clintonh8r]

exactly

[Semper Paratus]

Wouldn't want to trust the well water there.

[gov_bean_ counter]

How about things that go boom in the night?

[Brilliant]

The Bekka Valley.... Isn't that where Saddam's WMD are? I'm thinking this might be an opportunity to make sure those WMD don't kill any INNOCENT people.

[TommyDale]

"Many people believe that Bekaa Valley is where Saddam's WMDs are buried."

There is a reason that the Bekaa Valley is the "line drawn in the sand".

[Young Werther]

The supposition that Iraq's WMD are hidden in the Bekka Valley means that surveillance drones can put this whole matter to rest in a very short time.

Syria down, that's one more notch for Wubya!!

[Wolfstar]

Syrian soldiers ride on a loaded army truck during a redeployment of troops near the village of Hammana, in the central mountains east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday March 7, 2005. The presidents of Syria and Lebanon announced Monday that Syrian forces will pull back to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley by March 31, but a complete troop withdrawal will be deferred until after later negotiations.

A Syrian army soldier, his truck decorated with a poster of his president Bashar al-Assad, looks back as he leaves his position in Mdeirej, east of Beirut, on the main Beirut-Damascus highway that links the capital to the Bekaa, where Syria has pledged to pull back all its troops in Lebanon.

A Lebanese soldier gestures to waiting members of the media as a Syrian truck leaves their position near the village of Hammana, in the central mountains east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday March 7, 2005.

Syrian soldiers ride on an army truck near the village of Aley, in the central mountains east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 7, 2005.

[TommyDale]

Who's the babe in that last photo?

[Sola Veritas]

"One Valley......One MOAB........."

Tactically speaking, that is not a bad idea. Get them bunched together and tell them to pull out immediately or we will take aggressive action. When they balk, creme them with MOABs. Instant, non-nuclear, destruction of a serious part of the Syrian Army.

I am not advocating this, but it makes "tactical" sense.

[VRWCmember]

Cool, one MOAB can take out a whole bunch of jihadis plus Saddam's WMD.

[sinanju]

The Bekaa' Valley is where Syria's cash crop opium poppy fields are. They'll want to hang on to that. A single night sortie by a B2 with a load of JDAMs would hurry this process on immeasurably.

[Wolfstar]

Syrian soldiers ride on top of an army truck as they move during a redeployment of troops near the village of Stur, in the central mountains east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 7, 2005.

A Syrian tank moves with soldiers on a hillside during a redeployment of troops near the village of Hammana, in the central mountains east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 7, 2005.

A Syrian soldier grabs his rifle before pointing it to prevent pictures from being taken as they pack equipment on a loaded army truck during a redeployment of troops near the village of Stur, in the central mountains east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 7, 2005.

[SlowBoat407]

Ye-e-es! Depart alot at this time!

[BigSkyFreeper]

Many people believe that Bekaa Valley is where Saddam's WMDs are buried.

I believe it to be true.

[dasboot]

Yup

[Petronski]

Who's the babe in that last photo?

I dunno, but she's really tall.