U.N. Confirms the Pullout of Syrian Troops
A U.N. military team on Monday verified the pullout of all Syrian troops from Lebanon but said it could not be certain that all intelligence operatives had left the country.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his special envoy on the Lebanon-Syria issue both called the results positive, but the team’s report wasn’t the clear-cut statement that Syria had sought.
The report said all the locations formerly used by Syria’s military intelligence apparatus were empty, and it concluded that “no Syrian military intelligence personnel remain in Lebanon in known locations or in military uniform.”
“But the team has been unable to conclude with certainty that all the intelligence apparatus has been withdrawn,” the report said.
The Security Council adopted a resolution in September 2004 calling on all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon. But it was the February assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri that caused an uproar in Lebanon, sparking massive anti-Syrian street protests that forced the pro-Syrian Beirut government to resign.
The Lebanese opposition claimed Syria had orchestrated the killing and demanded that Damascus end its interference.
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