Syria Total Pullout?

[Annie]

I'll believe it when I see it:

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-12-voa14.cfm

UN Envoy: Syria Promises Total Pullout from Lebanon By Michael Drudge
Beirut
12 March 2005

A senior U.N. diplomat says Syria has promised a total withdrawal of military and intelligence personnel from Lebanon as demanded by the U.N. Security Council.

Terje Roed-Larsen
The announcement follows talks between U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the northern Syrian town of Aleppo.

The U.N. office in Beirut has issued a statement saying President Assad has committed Syria to fulfill U.N. Security Council resolution 1559, which demands a complete withdrawal of 14,000 Syrian troops. The pullout agreement also covers Syrian intelligence personnel, widely accused by Lebanese opposition leaders of manipulating Lebanese politics.

The U.N. statement adds that Mr. Roed-Larsen will give details of the timetable for the pullout to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan early next week in New York.

Mr. Roed-Larsen pressed Mr. Assad for the timetable one week after the Syrian leader had announced a redeployment of Syrian forces to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.

Syrian troops remove tank on transporter, as they leave position in Daher El-Baidar mountain region of Lebanon
However, convoys of Syrian troops also have begun crossing the border with Lebanon to return home. According to Lebanese defense officials, Syria has pulled all of its troops out of northern Lebanon, though some intelligence posts in the region are still manned.

Syria has been under intense international pressure to get out of Lebanon since the February 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Many Lebanese opposition supporters blame Syria for the killing, though Damascus denies involvement.

Syrian troops first entered Lebanon in 1976 under an Arab League mandate to quell a civil war, and at its height Syria had about 40,000 soldiers in Lebanon.