Syria pledges Lebanon pullback by March-end

Syria on Monday pledged to pull back its troops in Lebanon towards the eastern Bekaa Valley by the end of March but stopped short of announcing the rapid withdrawal demanded by the international community. The United States, which has led mounting global pressure on Damascus for a full pullout, swiftly expressed its frustration at the announcement, saying that it wanted to see "action, not words" from Syria.
According to a joint statement issued after a summit in Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud put off any decision on the next phase after the forces are pulled back to the Bekaa.
"The Syrian-Lebanese high council decided on the redeployment of Syrian forces to the Bekaa ... before the end of March," the statement said. "The governments of the two countries will decide on the continued redeployment of the remaining Syrian forces."
They also called for a joint military committee "to draw up an agreement within a month of the redeployment of Syrian forces to the Bekaa ... establishing the number of Syrian personnel and the duration of their stay".
UN Security Council Resolution 1559, passed last September, called for an immediate and complete pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanese soil, following a deployment of almost three decades.
An estimated 14,000 Syrian troops remain in Lebanon, along with an unknown number of security agents.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters: "We need to see by action, not words ... Syria needs to withdraw completely and immediately from Lebanon territory."
But on the ground in Lebanon there was evidence of some movement.
A Syrian military convoy of nine trucks and two jeeps was seen headed Monday on the Beirut-Damascus road towards the Bekaa Valley, witnesses in the area said.
Elsewhere, Syrian soldiers posted at Dahr al-Wahsh, about 12 kilometers (seven miles) east of Beirut, were seen emptying buildings.
Syria is under intense pressure to end its political and military grip on Lebanon after Damascus first sent in troops in 1976 shortly after the start of the country's devastating civil war which ended in 1990.
The Damascus summit was held as tens of thousands of Lebanese opposition supporters rallied in Beirut three weeks after the killing of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in a bomb blast that changed the political landscape in Lebanon.
Police gave an estimate of almost 150,000, while organisers of the rally said they number between 200,000 and 250,000.