SYRIA will begin to remove its troops from Lebanon today, after a meeting of the Lebanese and Syrian presidents in Damascus, the Lebanese Defence Minister said yesterday.

Jubilant opponents cheered in the streets of Beirut, but powerful pro-Syrian factions continued to reject international calls for a full and immediate withdrawal of Syria’s estimated 14,000 troops.

The first step of a two-stage withdrawal plan is to begin with the redeployment of troops to Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, under a blueprint presented in Lebanon and confirmed by the Syrian Ambassador to London.

The second phase would see the withdrawal of troops across the border, but no time-frame has been set for completion and no mention made of the powerful Syrian intelligence network, which pervades all walks of life in Lebanon.

Washington gave only a lukewarm response to the proposals and gave warning against “half-measures” in Lebanon.

As the Lebanese media hailed the opening of a new chapter after 30 years of Syrian domination, powerful forces remained implaccably opposed to withdrawal. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of the Shia Hezbollah organisation, said that Syrian forces were required still because Lebanon is in a “state of war” with Israel.

Hezbollah called on pro- Syrian Lebanese groups to demonstrate outside the headquarters of the United Nations in Beirut today to denounce “foreign interventions” in Lebanese affairs.

The prospect of a Syrian disengagement from Lebanon poses a severe challenge to Hezbollah, which has pursued its anti-Israel agenda under the political cover of Damascus. The departure of the Syrians could lead to the gradual dismantling of the Islamic Resistance, the group’s formidable military wing.

Sheikh Nasrallah insisted: “The resistance will not give up its arms because Lebanon needs the resistance to defend it.”

Silvan Shalom, the Israeli Foreign Minister, stepped up the pressure on Syria and Hezbollah, saying that a Syrian withdrawal could promote stability in the Middle East.

“The purpose is to get Syrian troops out of Lebanon, include Hezbollah on the list of terror organisations (and) dismantle their terror infrastructure,” Mr Shalom told Israel Radio.

The apparent breakthrough followed an announcement by President Assad of Syria on Saturday that the military would conform to the 1989 Taif Accord, which helped to end Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war, and satisfy United Nations Resolution 1559, which calls for a Syrian withdrawal from neighbouring Lebanon.

However, Mr Assad made no mention of the Syrian military intelligence agents operating in Lebanon. For many Lebanese, the departure of Syrian troops is of far less concern than the dismantling and withdrawal of Syria’s extensive and pervasive intelligence network.

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