Syria completed the first phase of its troop pullout from Lebanon on Thursday, bringing Damascus closer to meeting US and Lebanese opposition demands that it quit the neighbour it has dominated for three decades. A Lebanese security source said 4,000 to 6,000 Syrian troops had returned home since the pullout plan was announced on March 5, leaving 8,000 to 10,000 in eastern Lebanon.
He said all Syrian forces had pulled back to the Bekaa Valley or crossed into Syria. "There are just some logistics left. But the people went, all of them," he added.
Washington wants all Syrian troops and intelligence agents out of Lebanon to allow for free elections in May and demands the disarmament of Shia Muslim Hizbollah guerrillas.