THE Syrian president, Bashar Assad, bowed to international pressure last night and signalled that he would start withdrawing troops from Lebanon.

The decision, which had been demanded by thousands of Lebanese street protesters, was hailed in Washington as the latest victory for “people power” in the Arab world. But it fell far short of the total withdrawal demanded by President George W Bush.

As crowds gathered in Beirut to hear the announcement broadcast live from Damascus, Assad told the Syrian parliament he would not keep his 14,000 troops in Lebanon if they were not wanted there. “We will not stay one day if there is Lebanese consensus on the departure of Syria,” he said.

Syrian troops would be withdrawn first to the Beka’a valley in eastern Lebanon, then to “border areas”, Assad said. However, he gave no timetable and did not specify how many soldiers would remain in Lebanon. He warned that an immediate pull-out would destabilise Lebanon, whose 15-year civil war ended in 1990.

The Syrian president and his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, will meet this week to approve the plan. Assad’s announcement was cheered by crowds in Damascus and Beirut alike. Lebanese demonstrators have been calling for a withdrawal since the murder last month of Rafik Hariri, the popular former prime minister, who opposed Syria’s presence. Syrian agents were blamed.

Walid Jumblatt, the opposition leader who was once an ally of Syria, described Assad’s statement as a “positive start” and praised his “new vision”. He also welcomed the Syrian president’s condemnation of Hariri’s murder, which he called despicable.

“This is what we have been demanding. Therefore our hand should be extended to the Arab Syrian people,” Jumblatt said. However, he called for a timetable to be specified.

Syrian troops entered Lebanon in 1976 after the outbreak of civil war and Damascus has remained the main political power broker there ever since.

On the eve of the speech the United States had demanded the withdrawal of all Syria’s troops and intelligence agents before parliamentary elections in May, and last night Washington remained unconvinced.

“President Assad’s announcement is not enough,” the State Department declared. “As President Bush said on Friday, when the United States and France say withdraw, we mean complete withdrawal — no half-hearted measures.” France echoed the sentiment, insisting on a “full withdrawal”.

But Syrian officials claimed that Assad’s pledge to withdraw his troops to “border areas” had been misunderstood, as he was really talking about a complete pull-out from Lebanon. “I think withdrawal to the border means to Syrian soil,” Sami Khiyami, the Syrian ambassador in London, told The Sunday Times.

He added that the deployment to the Beka’a would begin immediately and be completed within a month.

For Assad, yesterday was the almost inevitable culmination of a week that started with the resignation of the pro-Syrian government in Lebanon. The final straw came on Thursday when Crown Prince Abdullah, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, told him relations would suffer if Damascus did not start a complete withdrawal soon.

The killing of Hariri, who was credited with rebuilding Lebanon after the 1975-1990 war, has lifted the lid on opposition within Lebanon towards its powerful neighbour. For the first time, Lebanese from all walks of life joined forces to mourn a man who embodied the nation, setting in train a “people’s revolution”.

“It is time we were left alone to make our own future and way,” said Haitham Zeid, 23, a Druze University student who has been living in a small tent by the square for the past fortnight. “Our fathers suffered and paid a high price during the civil war and our country was destroyed. Christians and Muslims agree on one thing — war is not the answer, dialogue is our new weapon to achieve freedom and democracy.”

Syria was reluctant to pull troops out of Lebanon after 29 years without a peace deal with Israel — the countries remain formally at war.

By ordering a “gradual and organised” withdrawal, Assad risks stripping Syria of its most important strategic asset. He may be seen by some people as having been cowed by pressure from the West.

Assad, who succeeded his father in 2000, has combined military presence in Lebanon, with a policy of quiet co-operation with America in its war on terror. Many Syrian analysts believe the approach may no longer work.

If Assad tries to keep at least some troops in Lebanon, he may attract increasing international wrath and will almost certainly drive his country even deeper into isolation.

Additional reporting: Uzi Mahnaimi

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