Syria notifies UN of withdrawing all its forces from Lebanon
Syria-UN, Politics, 4/27/2005

Syria has notified the UN secretary general Kofi Annan it has completed on Tuesday the withdrawal of all its forces positioned in Lebanon in line with the UN Security Council resolution number 1559.

The Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara said in a message to the organization that "Syria wants to inform you officially that the Syrian forces positioned in Lebanon, and at the request of Lebanon and according to an Arab mandate, withdrew all its military and security forces and its compositions to Syria on April 26th.

The Arab League welcomed the Syrian withdrawal. The Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa said in a statement that the withdrawal is considered an important step that falls in the course of implementing the Taif agreement and in compliance with the UN resolution 1559.

Both France and Germany urged the new Lebanese government to proceed forward in plans to convene the elections and form a new government. The French President Jacque Chirac and the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed the European Union readiness to send observers for the elections.

For his part, the Lebanese designated prime minister Najib Miqati said that Lebanon has started a new political phase in the history of the relations between the two sisterly states. Miqati explained that relations between Beirut and Damascus should be given a push forward in various fields, and not only from the military and security angles. During the next few hours, a team of UN experts will be arriving in Beirut to confirm the Syrian withdrawal.

Syria had said in its message to the UN that: Syria feels that it is right and duty bound in drawing the attention of the Security Council to the positive role it played in putting an end to the civil war in Lebanon, in preserving Lebanon's territorial integrity, and in contributing with other fraternal Arab states and friends to the realization of Lebanese national reconciliation amidst extremely complicated and perilous circumstances. Furthermore, Syria is also right in singling out one of its most significant achievements in Lebanon that is the valuable contribution it made of its own accord to building a national Lebanese army that became the pride of the Lebanese of all stripes. Such achievement speak volumes of Syria's credibility and sincere desire to see Lebanon as a sovereign and independent state.

The course that Syria chose to follow in its compliance with the resolutions of international legitimacy is an example that ought to be emulated, Syria feels that it is right to expect from the Council recognition of this event that is commensurate with its significance. Therefore, Syria urges the Council to make every effort and evince the same determination and seriousness in order to implement the remaining Security Council Resolutions, namely those relevant to the complete withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the occupied Syrian Golan, the Lebanese Shab'a farms and the occupied Palestinian territories to the line of June 4th 1967 in addition to guaranteeing the national rights of the Palestinian people.

Previous Stories:
  Madrid meetings on Syria- EU Association Agreements   (4/25/2005)
  Damascus ends withdrawal from Lebanon   (4/25/2005)
  Syria's Defense minister: We seriously implements UN resolutions   (4/15/2005)

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