Syrian troops leaving Lebanon
Photo: Reuters
Did Assad leave behind intelligence personnel?
Photo: Reuters
Has Syria completely withdrawn?
Washington Post reports that Syrian intelligence presence remains in Lebanon, despite pledging complete withdrawal
WASHINGTON - Syria was able to focus the world's attention on its withdrawal from Lebanon following 29 years of occupation, while a significant part of its intelligence presence remains in Lebanon, the Washington Post
reported Wednesday.
More than 5,000 agents are operating in Lebanon at present, influencing its politics and economy.
This continuing presence violates the promise President Bashar Assad made last month to the United Nations pledging to withdraw all Syrian presence.
It also contradicts a letter the Syrian government sent
Opinion
By Eyal Zisser
Despite the attempts by Damascus and its allies to call Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon honorable, the humiliation of being expelled, by a Lebanese and international consensus, could not go unnoticed during its official parting ceremonies
to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan Tuesday declaring the withdrawal complete.
'Some have left, but not all'
According to the Post, U.N. officials and Lebanese opposition members told the U.N. Syrian military intelligence has vacated their headquarters at the Beirut Beau Rivage Hotel, but have "taken up new positions in the south of Beirut and elsewhere…using headquarters of parties affiliated with the government of Syria as well as privately rented apartments for their purposes."
While Syria has denied these allegations, the U.S administration continues to claim that Syria has not fulfilled its obligations according to U.N. resolution 1559.
"Some have left, but not all," Deputy State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli said.
Intelligence agents have taken up new posts
in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and as a result the communities have considerably grown, the Post reported.
U.S. and European officials are particularly concerned
about one Palestinian community in the eastern Bekaa Valley, which is connected to the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
However, Lebanese government officials told the U.N. that the Syrian withdrawal is complicated due to mixed marriages, family ties and a network of local informers.
