The presidents of Lebanon and Syria have failed to meet the requirements of the United Nations in their agreement today on the withdrawal of Syrian troops.

President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon and Bashir al-Assad, his Syrian counterpart, reached agreement in Damascus only on the first phase of a pull-out, with discussion of a full-scale departure deferred until April.

Nine Syrian military trucks and two Jeeps started to move as soon as Mr Lahoud's meeting at President Bashir al-Assad's People's Palace ended.

The activity appears to be purely symbolic as the two leaders have agreed that Syria has until the end of March to withdraw to the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon, when the final phase of the pull-out will be negotiated.

Mr Assad said on Saturday that the military would satisfy United Nations Resolution 1559, which calls for a total Syrian withdrawal from neighbouring Lebanon.

Nick Blanford, Times Beirut correspondent, said that this gentle timetable negotiated by the pro-Syrian Mr Lahoud was unlikely to go down well abroad.

"The international community won't be happy with this," he said. "The US, the French and the UN have made it very clear that they want the Syrians completely gone pretty much immediately."

The withdrawal comes after mass public demonstrations on the streets of Lebanese cities against the Syrian occupation, and after sustained international pressure.

The protests were triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq Hariri, in Beirut on February 14 - a killing widely blamed on Syrian agents.

This morning tens of thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Beirut once more, waving red and white Lebanese flags and chanting "Syria Out".

Today's meeting between the two presidents approved plans for the first phase of the pull-back of Syria's 14,000 troops. The agreement did not set a specific timetable for complete withdrawal, although it stated: "The Syrian and Lebanese agree on continuing the withdrawal of Syrian Arab forces."

Shortly after the announcement, two Syrian military trucks loaded with furniture headed east up the Lebanese mountains. A Jeep carrying a general also climbed the road toward the Dahr El-Baidar mountain pass that leads to the Bekaa, according to journalists in the area.

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