Syrian troops start redeploying from Lebanese capital to eastern border

Syrian forces Tuesday started redeploying from Lebanon's capital Beirut towards the eastern border, reports from Beirut said.

The Syrian troops are withdrawing towards the eastern Bekaa Valley from their original positions in Damour village south of Beirut and Aramoun to the east, concerned Lebanese officials were quoted as saying.

Syria has planned the imminent redeployment of its troops in Lebanon in the face of heavy international pressure for an end to its political and military domination of Lebanon, its tiny neighbour.

Before the redeployment, Syrian Defense Minister General Hassan Turkmani paid a previously unannounced visit to Lebanon to coordinate practical matters related to the redeployment plan.

The redeployment came after both the United Nations and the United States ratcheted up the pressure on Damascus this month to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and stop interfering in its neighbour's internal affairs.

The United States and France drafted UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calling for foreign armies to leave Lebanon after Syria asked Lebanon to extend the mandate of its close ally President Emile Lahoud despite local opposition.

The Lebanese parliament brushed aside the resolution and amended the constitution to allow Lahoud to serve three more years.

Syria, the major power broker in Lebanon, intervened in the country's civil war in 1976 and still maintains about 16,000 troops there at the moment.

The forces last conducted a redeployment at the end of 2003, when they withdrew from northern Lebanon.

Source: Xinhua