Syrian Assurances of Lebanon Pullout Reported

The Lebanese Parliament is nearing agreement in principle on a phased withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, and it has received private assurances that the troops can pull out of Beirut several months after a new government takes power, a source close to the negotiations said Monday.

As the Parliament ended its third day of talks on political reforms aimed at ending 14 years of civil war, a member of the Christian faction said it has been assured that Syria has agreed privately to cooperate in a phased withdrawal once reforms are in place. The Christian deputy, who asked not to be identified by name, said Saudi Arabian officials had secretly notified the Christians of the promise, apparently in an attempt to win their consent to a speedy timetable for shifting political power to the country’s Muslim majority.

Other sources have said that the alleged Syrian agreement calls for the withdrawal of troops from Beirut within six months of the installation of a new unified government, although troops would remain in Beirut’s suburbs and the surrounding countryside pending further scheduled pullbacks.

The question of Syria’s estimated 40,000 troops, which now control about two-thirds of Lebanon, has proved to be one of the most difficult in the talks, the first meeting of the Lebanese Parliament--in this case, unofficially--in more than a year.

Several Christian deputies, blaming outsiders for Lebanon’s troubles, have insisted on immediate Syrian withdrawal before giving up any of their historical political power to the Muslims, who now make up a slight majority of the population.

Syria has made no public promise to withdraw.

The proposed reform charter establishes a two-year deadline for Syrian withdrawal into the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon once a new government is in place.

But the deputies are now attempting to work out an agreement on a scheduled withdrawal that would move troops out of Beirut even sooner, the deputy told The Times.