his\her?
Bush's fault
How about the secret police?
Syria Ends Military Presence in Lebanon
By SAM F. GHATTAS Associated Press Writer
MASNAA, Lebanon (AP) -- Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon ended Tuesday when Syrian soldiers flashing victory signs crossed back over the border, completing a withdrawal brought about by international pressure and massive Lebanese street protests.
At a farewell ceremony near their shared border, a Syrian commander told Lebanese troops: "Brothers in arms, so long." The soldiers responded, "So long."
A commander of Lebanese soldiers then addressed his words to the Syrians, saying: "Brothers in arms, thank you for your sacrifices." His soldiers repeated, "Thank you for your sacrifices."
After the ceremony, the Syrian intelligence chief in Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Rustom Ghazali, 10 carloads of intelligence agents and the remaining 250 Syrian soldiers crossed the border.
At the crossing, about 25 Lebanese civilians saluted Ghazali, who got out of his car and accepted a poster from a Lebanese man that said: "Thank you Syria." On the Syrian side, hundreds of Syrians waved flags and danced in the streets of Jedeidit Yabous.
The Syrians entered Lebanon in 1976, ostensibly as peacekeepers in Lebanon's year-old civil war. After the war ended in 1990, about 40,000 Syrian troops remained, giving Damascus the decisive say in Lebanese politics.
International pressure and Lebanese anger over the Feb. 14 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri helped turn the tide against Syria's presence. The opposition blamed the murder on the Lebanese government and its Syrian backers, accusations both governments deny. Huge "Syria Out" demonstrations in Beirut brought down the pro-Syrian government, and U.N. and U.S. pressure intensified on Damascus until it withdrew its army.
Syria has gradually pulled out 14,000 troops over the last two months.
Shaaban al-Ajami, the mayor of nearby Lebanese border village of Majdal Anjar, said he was happy to see the Syrians leave: "I feel like someone who was suffocated and jailed and has finally emerged from jail."
With the Syrians leaving, its Lebanese allies in the security services also were collapsing. Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed _ often described as the enforcer of Damascus' policy _ announced his resignation Monday, and another top security commander left the country with his family.
Gen. Ali Habib, Syria's chief of staff, said in a speech during the departure ceremony, that President Bashar Assad had decided to pull out his troops after the Lebanese army had been "rebuilt on sound national foundations and became capable of protecting the state."
Habib said Syria had no "ambitions in Lebanon, except to protect it." By withdrawing, Habib, said that Syria will have "fulfilled all its obligations toward" U.N. Resolution 1559, which called on it to pull out.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has dispatched a team led by Senegalese Brig. Gen. Mouhamadou Kandji to verify the withdrawal.
Habib stressed that the withdrawal does mean an end to Syrian-Lebanese ties.
"The relations will continue and become stronger at present and in the future," he said, then took a a swipe at the United States, saying, "anyone who thinks that the history of people can be eliminated by statements made by this or that state is mistaken."
Lebanese army commander Michel Suleiman lauded the role of Syria's army in Lebanon, crediting it with rebuilding the army, maintaining peace among the country's 17 sects and ending the 1975-90 civil war.
He pledged continued cooperation between the two countries in several fields, including the fight on terror. "Together we shall always remain brothers in arms in the face of the Israeli enemy," said Suleiman.
The 250 Syrian soldiers in red berets and camouflage, the last Syrian troops remaining in Lebanon, shouted "we sacrifice our blood and our souls for you, oh Bashar!" during the ceremony at Rayak, a few miles from the Syrian border.
Shortly before the ceremony began, Brig. Gen. Elias Farhat, director of the Lebanese Army Orientation Department, said the Syrian withdrawal does not mean an end to Lebanese-Syrian relationship. "The military deployment of the Syrian army is part of this relationship which links the two countries," he said.
Farhat pointed to the 1991 Lebanese-Syrian Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination Treaty, which calls, among other things, for the two countries to closely coordinate on security and defense matters and jointly work to fight sabotage, espionage and prevent any hostile activity against any country.
Great! Now lets go dig in the Bekaa Valley for the WMD.
They will be redeployed as border guards on the Iraqi border. Their mission will be to stop the infiltration of insurgents into Iraq.
It's Bush's fault!
As it is, all you hear from the MSM is "news" about DeLay's ethics, Bolton's nastiness, and GOP right-wing religionists packing the Courts.
The old Soviet Union was better at getting out the truth than today's Mainstream Media!
Thank you President Bush.
Remember when Syria made all kinds of huffing and puffing that it was NOT going to follow W's time table...
looks like they did anyway.
I guess the MSM will be all over this story < sarcasm off >
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20050426/ts_nm/lebanon_dc&printer=1
Syrian Forces Leave Lebanon After Three Decades
2 hours, 4 minutes ago
By Lin Noueihed
RIYYAK, Lebanon (Reuters) - Syria withdrew its last soldiers and intelligence agents from Lebanon Tuesday, ending a 29-year military presence in its small neighbor.
More on the latest, "It's Bush's Fault re Syria/Lebanon!:
As the Syrian troops crossed the frontier in green buses, many Lebanese hailed their departure as the start of a new era, but analysts said Damascus would remain influential.
"With the completion of the Syrian forces' withdrawal from Lebanon, a new political era in the relations between the two brethren countries starts based on close cooperation in all fields," Lebanon's new Prime Minister Najib Mikati said.
Syria told the United Nations it had completed its pullout from Lebanon in line with Security Council resolution 1559.
Syria "would like to officially inform you that the Syrian Arab forces stationed in Lebanon, at the request of Lebanon and under an Arab mandate, have fully withdrawn all their military, security apparatus and assets..." Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara said in a letter to the world body.
Syrian forces entered in 1976 to try to end Lebanon's civil war which had begun the previous year. However, the conflict did not end until 1990. At different times, Syrian forces had fought Muslim and Christian militias, Lebanese army units, Palestinian guerrillas and the Israeli army.
Pro-Syrian Lebanese officials say 12,000 Syrian soldiers were killed in Lebanon and many more wounded.
The Syrians dominated Lebanon after the civil war, incurring little serious international opposition until a U.N. Security Council resolution in September demanded their withdrawal.
The Feb. 14 assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, blamed by many Lebanese on Damascus, triggered large anti-Syrian protests in Beirut and an outcry abroad.
That prompted President Bashar al-Assad to announce on March 5 that he would bring his forces home. The withdrawal, involving about 14,000 troops, took about seven weeks to complete.
"We are very happy, we are celebrating," Khaled Saleh, 24, a computer consultant said. "I have been asking for this all my life." A score of young Lebanese men performed the traditional dabke dance in celebration as the Syrians were leaving.
Analysts say the withdrawal will end Syria's domination of Lebanon but not end its influence altogether.
"Definitely there will be a reduction in Syrian involvement in internal Lebanese affairs. They will no longer select high-ranking officials," Samir Baroudi, a political scientist at Beirut's Lebanese American University, told Reuters.
"There will continue to be high-level coordination between the two countries as far as bilateral economic relations and the overall peace process in the Middle East."
OPPOSITION HAPPY
Anti-Syrian opposition leaders welcomed the pullout.
"This is a historic day for Lebanon. It ends a long period full of mistakes and hegemony," legislator Nayla Mouawad told Reuters. "The withdrawal met the opposition's demands and leads the way for new balanced relations with Syria."
The United Nations was due to issue a report on Syria's compliance with the Security Council demand later Tuesday.
A U.N. team was expected to arrive in Damascus to verify the withdrawal. It hopes to obtain maps of Syria's former positions and reports on the status of its military and intelligence presence in Lebanon, a U.N. official said. The team then travels to Lebanon, where it is to verify the Syrian withdrawal.
Cars carrying the last intelligence officers, including their chief, Rustum Ghazaleh, crossed the Lebanese-Syrian border at the Masnaa crossing after attending a farewell ceremony.
Eight buses carrying Syrian soldiers followed. Troops hoisting Syrian flags and pictures of Assad smiled and waved.
"Farewell to our brothers in the Syrian Arab Army!" a Lebanese officer had shouted earlier at the ceremony on the nearby Riyyak airbase in the Bekaa Valley.
"Goodbye!" his men responded, to about 200 Syrian troops.
"We will never forget them," soldiers chanted in reference to comrades who died in Lebanon.
"We sacrifice our blood and soul for you, Bashar," Syrian troops shouted.
Thousands of Syrians gave the soldiers a heroes' welcome as they crossed the Jdeideh border post into Syria. Vehicles transporting the returning troops were mounted by civilians carrying Syrian flags and pictures of Assad.
Lebanon's new government, led by Mikati, has pledged to hold free and fair elections on time in May. Parliament began a two-day meeting Tuesday to discuss the new government's policy statement and vote it into office.
France and Germany urged the new Lebanese government to push ahead with plans to hold elections after the Syrian pullout.
"Today is an important day for Lebanon because it's the end of the presence of the Syrian military and intelligence agents on Lebanese soil," French President Jacques Chirac told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
And here is the not so good news...
As last Syrian troop leaves, Lebanon PM rejects disarming Hezbollah
= (PICTURES) =
ATTENTION - UPDATES with PM's comments ///
BEIRUT, April 26 (AFP) - Lebanon's prime minister-designate Nagib Miqati on Tuesday rejected international demands for the disarming of the Hezbollah militia, as the last Syrian soldier left Lebanese soil.
"The government considers that the armed Lebanese resistance epitomises the people's right to defend its land and dignity against Israeli aggression and threats until the complete liberation of Lebanese territory," he told parliament.
He was speaking as Syria completed its troop withdrawal from Lebanon in the face of strong international pressure, ending a 29-year military presence in its tiny neighbour.
Miqati, who is close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, thanked the Syrian troops for "helping the Lebanese out of the civil war and rebuilding the Lebanese army."
And he called for building a "stronger relationship... based on the mutual respect of the sovereignty of each country."
The pro-Syrian Hezbollah is the only armed group not to have laid down its weapons after the end of the 1975-1990 civil war as it was deemed to be leading a guerrilla resistance war against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.
The group's attacks were instrumental in leading to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
Miqati also pledged also to cooperate fully with the UN probe into the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, whose killing in a massive bomb blast on February 14 triggered a major upheaval in Lebanon and paved the way for the Syrian pullout.
"Whoever is found by the investigation to be involved or negligent, will face (punitive) government measures," he told MPs.
Parliament was debating his new government's policy statement ahead of a confidence vote in his line-up expected on Wednesday.
His cabinet has pledged to draw up a new election law to allow crucial elections to be held as planned by the end of May as demanded by the Lebanese opposition and the international community.
Miqati is calling for the creation of a joint committee of ministers and MPS to put together within 10 days a new electoral law "that would guarantee proper political representation" in the multi-confessional country.
Finding a compromise on an electoral law that would win the backing of both the opposition and pro-Syrian loyalists is one of the stumbling blocks facing the new government, which was formed only last week.
Miqati said his government would press ahead with calling for elections under the disputed current law if parliament failed to sanction the proposed committee.
Under the constitution, the election date must be announced at least one month before the end of the term of the current parliament which runs out on May 31.
But Miqati, who has said the elections could be held on May 29, has asked MPs to shorten this period to 15 days.
rk/ak/txw
Lebanon-politics
AFP
Did they take their Secret Police with them? If not, then things haven't changed that much.
"flashing victory signs" ---and which A$$ kicking by the Israelis would that be in memory of? I'm kind of disappointed that Basher doesn't seem to have the nerve for at least one good fight. Has he/she lost his taste for the 12th century? Ain't it remarkable that they can't pull out without throwing a couple neenerneener's at the Israelis? C'mon GW---at least one good salvo with the 155's to send them on their way.
Bush Lied! Dictators and oppressive occupations died!
WHERE'S THE LEBONESE BABE PICTURES!!!!