Europe asks for scheduling the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon

The higher coordinator for the foreign policy in the European Union Javier Solana demanded the Syrian and Lebanese authorities to draw a set mechanism and timetable as soon as possible to implement the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.

Solana said in a statement circulated in Brussels that the European Union expects complete implementation of the UN Security Council no 1559 which means complete withdrawal for all foreign intelligence and military forces from Lebanon.

He indicated he had followed up with interest the speech of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his announcement of the withdrawal of his forces from the Lebanese territories towards joint borders between the two states in two phases.

Meantime, the French foreign minister Michael Barnier, on scheduling the withdrawal of the Syrian forces from the Lebanese lands, said that the UN will decide the credibility of this schedule and its applicability. Barnier considered in a statement to Europe Radio that al-Assad's speech was important but he waits for tangible steps to this effect.