U.N. presses for Hizbullah disarmament
Lebanon opposes disarmament of terrorist group, saying it is a resistance force fighting Israeli occupation of Shebaa Farms; Syria promised U.N. envoy it would complete withdrawal from Lebanon
A United Nations envoy discussed a U.N. demand for the disarmament of Lebanon's Shiite Muslim Hizbullah guerrillas with Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud on Monday, but reported no agreement.
Syria promised the envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, on Sunday that it would end its military and intelligence presence in Lebanon by April 30 in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559.
The U.S.- and French-sponsored measure, adopted in September, calls for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, as well as the departure of all foreign forces.
The deadline means all Syrian forces are expected to leave Lebanon before parliamentary polls due in May.
President Bush on Monday warned Lebanon's leaders against postponing polling and demanded Syrian troops and security forces fully withdraw from the country.
"It's important for this election to take place on time," Bush said in Washington, adding: "I appreciate the fact that Syria has expressed its intent to fully leave the country. When they say 'We're going to leave,' we expect troops and security forces to leave."
Hizbullah a powerful political group
Opposition leaders say Syrian-backed Lebanese officials are seeking to postpone the election because they fear losing their majority in the assembly.
Roed-Larsen told reporters he and Lahoud had discussed the militia issue, but gave no indication of an agreement. "We have decided to continue our dialogue," he said, adding that he expected to meet the president again before leaving Beirut.
Lebanon officially opposes disarming Hizbullah, saying the terrorist group is not a militia but a resistance force fighting Israeli occupation of Shebaa Farms, a sliver of borderland.
The United Nations views the territory as Syrian, not Lebanese, and has certified that Israel, then under frequent Hizbullah attack, completed its pullout from Lebanon in 2000.
Hizbullah, the only Lebanese faction permitted openly to keep its weapons since the 1975-90 civil war, is also a powerful political group, with 12 seats in the 128-member parliament and wide support among Shiites, Lebanon's biggest community.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara said on Sunday his country's troop withdrawal from Lebanon meant it had met its obligations under the U.N. resolution, apparently disavowing any responsibility for the disarmament of its ally Hizbullah.
Syrians leave key checkpoint
Syria is ending its 29-year military presence in Lebanon under international pressure that increased after the Feb. 14 assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Lebanese troops took over a key Syrian checkpoint on the Beirut-Damascus highway on Monday and the Syrians prepared to abandon a nearby intelligence building, witnesses said.
Syrian intelligence agents had manned the roadblock at the eastern town of Shtoura in the Bekaa Valley for nearly three decades. The Syrians also vacated their military hospital in Shtoura, at least 25 more military trucks crossed the border and Syrians left a post at Dahr al-Baidar, the highest pass on the mountainous Beirut-Damascus highway, witnesses said.
Syrian and Lebanese commanders agreed the final phase of the withdrawal, involving 8,000 troops, would start on Thursday and end by April 30, a Lebanese military source said.
'Elections important for stability'
Roed-Larsen said after talks with Prime Minister-designate Omar Karami that Lebanon had joined Syria in agreeing to allow a U.N. team to verify the Syrian withdrawal.
Syria began moving its troops and intelligence agents to the Bekaa or across the Syrian border on March 8 in the first phase of the plan announced by Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Lebanese military sources said that phase had been completed on March 17, but they and witnesses have reported more Syrian troops and military vehicles crossing the border since then.
Damascus has already withdrawn at least 6,000 of the 14,000 troops it had in Lebanon. Syria has had up to 40,000 troops in its neighbor since intervening in its civil war in 1976.
Roed-Larsen said he and Lahoud had discussed "the importance that timely elections have for the stability of Lebanon."
Karami, who resigned amid street protests over Hariri's death, only to be reappointed, is still trying to form a government to organize the elections.
