Syria Withdraws More Troops From Key Positions Lebanon

Rick van Opbergen

House Member
Sep 16, 2004
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The Netherlands
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More Syria troops move in Lebanon


Syrian troops have been in Lebanon for 28 years

Syria has withdrawn some of its troops from three key positions in Lebanon, according to Lebanese officials. They say Syrian soldiers have left the northern town of Batrun, as well as Beirut's southern suburbs and airport.

Damascus is being pressed to pull its remaining 14,000 or so troops out of Lebanon, where there has been a Syrian military presence since the 1970s. This is the second Syrian redeployment since the UN called for foreign troops to quit Lebanon in September.

The UN Security Council resolution - sponsored by France and the US - did not mention Syria by name, but it is the only foreign country with troops stationed in Lebanon. Some 3,000 Syrian troops later withdrew. The UN said this was not enough. In the latest redeployment soldiers were moved to the Bekaa Valley, close to the Syrian-Lebanese border, a Lebanese security official told Reuters news agency.

Both governments say the Syrian military presence in Lebanon has ensured stability since the end of the civil war in 1990. But Lebanese opposition groups have defended the UN resolution, saying it is the only way to end Syrian dominance of the country. Syria first sent soldiers into Lebanon in 1976, at the start of the civil war.
source: BBC