Syria promises complete withdrawal from Lebanon by the end of April

The UN special envoy to the Middle East Terje Roed-Larsen said that Syria will withdraw all its forces and security intelligence from Lebanon before the end of April 30.

This came after Larsen's talks with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the foreign minister Farouk al-Shara and with his deputy Walid al-Mu'allim.

In a joint press conference with al-Shara, Larsen said that the Syrian government agreed to send a UN team to investigate and make sure of the complete Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon in implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1559.

He said that the UN Security Council resolution is obligatory for all countries and that he had reached an understanding with the Syrians over its implementation. He added that the possibility of replacing foreign forces instead of the Syrian ones is not discussed at the meantime.

Larsen refused to answer other questions outside the withdrawal of the Syrian forces, and confined to confirm that the UN follows up the situation in Lebanon carefully. He indicated that making the elections would contribute to achieving stability.

For his part, al-Shara said that Syria means by its complete withdrawal it implements the part concerning it, in resolution 1559. He stressed that relations between Syria and Lebanon are solid and built on national and patriotic feelings that can not end with the withdrawal of the Syrian forces.

Al-Shara stressed the cohesion between Syrian and Lebanese security. He said that the Taif accord indicates that none of the two states uses threats against the other. He also stressed Syria's support to making the elections in Lebanon at its due date in May.

Larsen who will leave for Beirut today, Monday, conveyed a message to al-Assad from the UN secretary general Kofi Annan. The UN envoy denied at the beginning of his visit that he is carrying a warning to Damascus over the date of its final withdrawal from Lebanon or that the UN is working under the American pressures concerning the situation concerning Syria.