News and Information

Arabs seeking Syria 'compromise'
March 3, 2005

Syria needs friends as it faces US pressure over Lebanon
Saudi Arabia and Egypt are working to ease an international crisis over Syria's military presence in Lebanon.
The two Arab diplomatic heavyweights are considering a compromise mechanism to ensure a Syrian withdrawal.

This news was announced by a top Egyptian spokesman as Syria's President Bashar al-Assad visited Saudi Arabia for talks with Crown Prince Abdullah.

Syria invaded Lebanon in the 1975-90 civil war, but the troops stayed long after their mandate ended.

In September 2004, Syria was ordered by UN Security Council Resolution 1559 to pull out from its smaller neighbour once and for all.

US allies

Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad said President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal discussed Syria at a meeting on Thursday.

SYRIA IN LEBANON
Military intervention begins in 1976
30,000 troops in Lebanon during 1980s, currently 15,000
Syrian forces crucial in ending the Lebanese civil war in 1990 and maintaining peace
Calls for departure of the Syrians increase gradually with Israeli withdrawal in 2000
UN resolution calling for withdrawal of all foreign forces passed in Sept 2004


Q&A: Syria in Lebanon
"There must be a way to marry the Taif agreement with the provisions of 1559, keeping in mind the Syrian declaration of 21 February, flagging their intention to withdraw from Lebanon," Mr Awad told reporters.

The 1989 accord that ended the civil war - which was signed in the Saudi city of Taif - stipulated that Syrian troops should pull back within two years, as a prelude to full withdrawal from Lebanon.

Mr Awad said the aim of Egyptian efforts was to help Syria cope with pressure for the implementation of the UN resolution, while meeting Lebanese unity and its wishes for independence.

As well as holding talks with Prince Abdullah, Mr Assad met the emir of Qatar in Damascus on Wednesday.


Lebanese protests against Syria have been going on for weeks
Both Saudi Arabia and Qatar are key US allies in the region. Washington has spearheaded pressure on Syria to get it to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

Mr Assad told Time magazine in an interview published this week that he might withdraw troops in a few months.

Arab foreign ministers in Cairo have meanwhile urged Damascus to stick to its long-running commitment to withdraw from Lebanon.

"We have to contain, with all our capabilities, the existing big problems and to shift the current situation into a safer position," said Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa.

The Syrian and Lebanese foreign ministers did not attend the Cairo meeting.

Fragile balance

Russia - Syria's main ally during the Cold War - and Germany have become the latest voices to call for Syria to leave Lebanon

"Syria should withdraw from Lebanon, but we all have to make sure that this withdrawal does not violate the very fragile balance which we still have in Lebanon, which is a very difficult country ethnically," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the BBC.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says Syria's relationship with Lebanon is complex, with history, strategy and economics all deeply intertwined.

But he says Mr Assad is feeling heat over the issue, while his regime's viability might even be questioned in Damascus if he "lost" Lebanon.

Pressure on Damascus spiked after the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri last month, who had recently joined Lebanese opposition politicians calling for a Syrian withdrawal. Syria has denied any part in his killing.

The government of Prime Minister Omar Karami resigned on Monday after two weeks of street protests over Hariri's death in a massive car bombing in Beirut



Source: www.bbc.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4315917.stm


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