Saudis Back Calls for Syrian Pullout From Lebanon
By REUTERS
Published: March 3, 2005
Filed at 6:08 p.m. ET
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia added a key Arab voice on Thursday to mounting demands that Syria withdraw its troops swiftly from Lebanon, with Washington raising the threat of punishment if it didn't.
For decades Syrian troops have helped Damascus secure influence over its small neighbor. The United States has long called for them to leave but the pressure has soared since a former Lebanese premier was assassinated last month.
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``If you believe in democracy, why not let the democracy in Lebanon flourish and grow,'' said President Bush, who backed a U.N. resolution in September that called on Syria's troops to withdraw. ``It's time for Syria to get out.''
U.S. officials said Washington and European allies wanted to be ready to act quickly, maybe with unspecified sanctions and a tougher U.N. resolution, if Syria failed to pull out.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia also told Damascus to leave Lebanon when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew to Riyadh for crisis talks with Crown Prince Abdullah.
A regional U.S. ally, Abdullah told Assad that ``Syria must start withdrawing soon, otherwise Saudi-Syrian relations will go through difficulties,'' one Saudi official said.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency said the Saudi comments lacked credibility, adding: ``The talks were...constructive and fruitful and were conducted in an extremely amicable fashion.''
Another Arab heavyweight, Egypt, also wants Assad to pull out his 14,000 troops in compliance with the resolution and the Taif Accord that ended Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.
But Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo refrained from joining in the increasingly public pullout campaign, saying they were opting for quiet diplomacy by individual Arab states.
Syria's military presence dates from a 1976 intervention. Troop numbers have declined in recent years.
It has faced growing calls to end military and political dominance of its neighbor since former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated last month in a Beirut bombing.
Lebanon's opposition blamed Syria, which denies involvement, and organized protests which toppled Beirut's pro-Syrian government this week.
Hariri was close to the Saudi royal family, took Saudi citizenship and spent two decades there forging construction deals that turned him into one of the world's richest men.
``They should withdraw immediately,'' another Saudi source said of the Syrians. ``This is what we told them and this is what the whole world is telling them.''
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who diplomats said attended the meeting in Riyadh, earlier told reporters in Egypt he had ``no initiative'' to resolve the Syria-Lebanon crisis.
ALLY RUSSIA SAYS 'GO'
Russia, long one of Syria's best friends, also said the troops should go.
``Syria should withdraw from Lebanon, but we all have to make sure that this withdrawal does not violate the very fragile balance which we still have in Lebanon, which is a very difficult country ethnically,'' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Moscow abstained when the Security Council adopted U.S.- and French-sponsored Resolution 1559 in September calling for foreign forces to leave Lebanon and militias to disarm.
But Lavrov said the resolution, like any other Council measure, must be implemented.
Assad was quoted by Time magazine on Tuesday as saying he could pull out the remaining soldiers within months, but the United States has expressed skepticism.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said his special envoy on Syria and Lebanon would visit the region in the next few days.
``I will be sending back Terje Roed-Larsen to the region to discuss the issue of withdrawal with the two governments,'' he told reporters.
``My hope is that I will be able to report progress when I submit my next report in April.''
He said everyone was aware of the need to avoid a situation that could destabilize Lebanon or cause tensions.
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