- Title: LEBANON: SYRIA BEGINS TO DEPLOY TROOPS ON SYRIAN- LEBANESE BORDER
- Date: 22nd September 2004
- Summary: (W5) DAMOUR, LEBANON (SEPTEMBER 22, 2004) (REUTERS TV) 1. WIDE OF SYRIAN TRUCKS DRIVING ON BEIRUT HEADING TO DAMOUR CAMP ON SOUTHERN COASTAL HIGHWAY 0.10 2. SLV TRUCKS ON ROAD 0.22 3. WIDE OF CONVOY OF EMPTY BUSES ENTERING CAMP 0.30 4. WIDE OF SYRIAN TRUCKS HEADING UPHILL 0.49 5. WIDE OF TRUCKS , BUSES AND SOLDIERS INSIDE
- Embargoed: 7th October 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DAMOUR, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Reuters ID: LVA268V7P5OEXXPDRY4P6QULNVWF
- Story Text: Syria begins troop redeployment in Lebanon.
Syrian forces began a redeployment of troops from
the outskirts of Lebanon's capital Beirut towards the
eastern Syrian-Lebanese borders on Wednesday (September 22, 2004)
in an apparent bid to ease U.S.-led pressure over Syria's
influence on Lebanon.
Around 30 troop trucks and more than a dozen large
buses crossed into Lebanon and headed west along to the
main road connecting Damascus and Beirut, around which the
bulk of the troop movements are to take place.
Syrian troops deployed in Damour village were seen
dismantling tents and loading luggage in trucks in an
apparent start of their withdrawal plan towards the eastern
Bekaa Valley.
Lebanon said on Tuesday some 3,000 of Syria's
approximately 17,000 troops in Lebanon would leave
positions near the capital over the next several days and
rebase in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian borders.
Lebanese sources said the two-stage redeployment, when
done, would leave Syria's troops concentrated in a smaller
area of Lebanon and largely restrict them to the strategic
eastern Bekaa Valley.
Syria flooded Lebanon with troops during the 1975-1990
civil war. The presence of these troops is the target of a
U.S.-backed U.N. Security Council resolution demanding a
pullout of foreign troops and an end to political meddling
in Lebanon.
Washington and France drafted the resolution earlier
this month after Lebanon's cabinet and parliament approved
a constitutional change to keep the pro-Syrian president in
office.
The move had been widely opposed, and MPs said pressure
from Damascus was the key to assuring its success.
The troop movements ahead of a U.N. report on
compliance with the resolution are widely regarded as a
sign of willingness to accommodate Washington, which is
pressuring Damascus over support for Lebanon's Hizbollah
guerrillas and demands Syria do more on its border with
Iraq to choke off insurgents there.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None