U.N. Envoy in Syria to Press for a Pullout

As a U.N. envoy arrives in Syria to press for the pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanon, opposition leaders here are planning a return to high-profile tactics, including a major demonstration, in an effort to recapture the momentum of the street protests that forced the collapse of the Lebanese government less than two weeks ago.

United Nations special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen is to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad today to discuss the withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, where they have been stationed for nearly 30 years. During a stop Friday in Jordan, Roed-Larsen told reporters that he expected Syria to lay out a timetable for a complete withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Lebanese opposition leaders said they hoped a rally Monday in Beirut’s Martyrs Square would serve as a potent counterpoint to Tuesday’s pro-Syria rally led by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah party. The militant group’s show of strength emboldened Damascus’ political allies here to reappoint Prime Minister Omar Karami, a strong Syria supporter who quit under pressure Feb. 28.

The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14 sent tens of thousands of residents into the streets in anger over the death and Syria’s presence.

Organizers said they hoped for a turnout bigger than that of the Hezbollah rally, which drew an estimated 500,000 people to downtown Beirut.

“There will be a very big answer to the demonstration of Hezbollah,” said Fares Souaid, a leading opposition lawmaker. “The popular momentum will be built on.”

The opposition, led mainly by Maronite Christians, Druze and Sunni Muslims, faces critical decisions, including whether to hold fast in refusing to join the government until its demands for a full Syrian withdrawal and other conditions are met.

“They really have to make up their minds on their final stance, whether they want to continue their demonstrations endlessly until their demands are met, or connect their list of demands to the [political] process itself,” said Nizar Hamzeh, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut. “It’s really a dilemma.”

Hamzeh said relying on continued street protests would bring minimal gains and could increase the odds for violent confrontations.

Karami’s reappointment -- two days after the Hezbollah rally -- signaled that Syria’s hold on the Lebanese government was unlikely to loosen. Karami said, though, that he would seek to defuse the deepening crisis by inviting opponents to join a new government.

Opposition leaders denounced the prime minister’s reappointment, saying it was a slap against the Lebanese people.

Opposition spokesmen said they would not consider joining a multiparty Cabinet under Karami’s leadership unless the government allowed an international investigation into the Hariri assassination and fired top security and intelligence commanders whom they hold responsible for the killing. Syria and the Lebanese government deny any involvement in Hariri’s death.

The opposition has also demanded an immediate and full withdrawal of Syrian troops, which have been on Lebanese soil since 1976.

Karami has called for dialogue, suggesting that the opposition was welcome to pursue its demands once inside the government.

“It’s an attempt to put the ball in the opposition’s court,” said Bassem Sabaa, an opposition lawmaker in what was Hariri’s bloc. “The authorities have already rejected our conditions and yet they say they want dialogue.”

Karami has said he plans to begin talks with political figures, including the opposition, early next week in hopes of forming a government that is more diverse than the previous one, which was solidly pro-Syria.

The opposition delegation plans to use the occasion to present a list of its demands -- as it sought to do during a meeting Wednesday with President Emile Lahoud over naming a prime minister. Lahoud refused to take the list.

Souaid said he expected Karami to promise strenuous efforts to solve the Hariri case, but not to give in to demands.

Opposition leaders say they fear that joining the Karami government would lend it legitimacy while granting them no real decision-making power.

Rather, they hope to make gains in parliamentary elections in May , but they say Syria must leave to ensure that the balloting is fair.

The opposition’s hard-nosed approach has drawn criticism from some who say it is contributing to the political deadlock.

“The opposition’s weapon of choice -- its stance of self-righteousness -- has reached a point of obstinacy, whereby they are proving themselves unwilling to communicate and hold a dialogue with the other parties,” the English-language newspaper Daily Star said in an editorial Friday.

A few opposition figures have made comments suggesting that they will consider taking part in a transitional government before the parliamentary elections if Karami shows flexibility.

By joining a government that probably will be temporary, the opposition could pursue its agenda from inside while putting off until after the vote a decision on whether to join a long-term unity government, Hamzeh said.

“The political process is the best place to get back to, for both sides. It’s the safest place, despite the problems and whatever criticisms one could make,” he said. “It would be much better than chaos.”

Karami said Thursday that if he could not enlist the opposition to take part in a new government, he would step down. He also said delays in forming a government could lead to a postponement of the May election.

The political jockeying came as Syria continued redeploying soldiers from northern Lebanon. News reports said Syria had removed all its soldiers from the north, leaving behind some intelligence officers.

Syria this week began moving troops east into the Bekaa Valley, closer to its border. Some were reported to have crossed back into Syria.

Syrian President Assad, under broad international pressure, has agreed to a phased pullout but has not said when all the estimated 14,000 Syrian troops will leave Lebanon.

Syrian troops entered Lebanon during the country’s 15-year civil war and remained as peacekeepers under the 1989 Taif Accord that ended the fighting. Under the treaty, Damascus was to evacuate its soldiers starting in 1992, but the provision was never carried out.

A U.N. Security Council resolution in September, sponsored by the United States and France, calls for a full withdrawal.

U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Friday that Roed-Larsen would not deliver an ultimatum or threats to Syria. Security Council diplomats confirmed that there had been no discussion of sanctions against Syria if it did not comply with the resolution.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher also declined to characterize the U.N. mission as an ultimatum.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, meanwhile, repeated the administration’s demand that Damascus adhere to the resolution.

“Syria would like to make this a discussion about Syria and the United States, or Syria and France,” she said Friday.

“But this is an issue of allowing the Lebanese people, without the artificial condition of Syrian troop and security presence in Lebanon, to chart their own political future.”

Times staff writers Maggie Farley in New York and Tyler Marshall in Washington and special correspondent Rania Abouzeid in Beirut contributed to this report.