Syrian leader expected to announce redeployment of troops in parliament speech

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian President Bashar Assad was expected to announce a troop pullback to eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border — but not a full withdrawal — in a speech Saturday to parliament, Syrian and Lebanese officials said Friday. The move would fall short of U.S. and Arab demands for a full withdrawal.

Arab powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Egypt want Assad to start quickly on removing all his 15,000 troops from Lebanon, where Damascus has held sway for more than a decade.

President Bush said he wants all Syrian forces out by May, when Lebanon holds parliamentary elections — stepping up previous calls in which he set no deadline.

"There are no half-measures at all," Bush said during an event in New Jersey on his Social Security proposals. "When the United States and France say withdraw, we mean complete withdrawal, no halfhearted measures."

Lebanese Defense Minister Abdul-Rahim Murad suggested Syria wants to keep some troops in the country on a long-term basis, saying a complete removal of the troops would have to be negotiated between Syria and Lebanon's governments — as called for in an 1989 agreement.

Under the Taif Accord, he said, "the governments of Lebanon and Syria will meet to discuss the number of troops required to stay and outline the areas where they would be stationed until the (Arab-Israeli) issue is settled."

In the speech to the People's Assembly in Damascus, "we expect President Assad to announce a redeployment to the Bekaa region" in eastern Lebanon, Murad — a member of the pro-Syrian government in Beirut — told The Associated Press.

He answered "No" when asked whether the redeployment meant a full withdrawal.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem said Syrian and Lebanese leaders have agreed on an action plan for carrying out the Taif Accord, but he would not comment on a timetable or give further details. "You will hear details of this plan soon," he said during a visit to Syria's longtime ally Moscow.

Asked by AP whether Assad would announce the troop pullback Saturday, Mouallem replied, "I think so."

Syria has said in behind-the-scenes diplomacy with Arab nations this week that it wants to keep 3,000 troops and early-warning stations in Lebanon, according to an Arab diplomat in Cairo. The Syrian army already operates radar stations in Dahr el-Baidar, on mountain tops bordering Syria. Israeli warplanes have attacked the sites in the past.