Lebanese protesters carry portraits of slain former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri during a demonstration March 14.

"The president has committed to withdrawing all troops and intelligence services from Lebanon in fulfillment of Security Council Resolution 1559," Terje Roed-Larsen said after talks with Assad in the northern city of Aleppo.

On March 14, a senior Lebanese Army officer said that 4,000 Syrian soldiers -- more than a quarter of those serving in Lebanon just a week ago -- were back in Syria, but he said a complete withdrawal, including the 10,000 troops in the eastern Bekaa Valley, was a month away at the earliest.

A Syrian Cabinet minister indicated a "very fast timetable for withdrawal" was expected -- with completion ahead of Lebanese parliamentary elections as U.S. President George W. Bush has demanded. Election dates have not been set, but voting is expected to begin in April.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 19, 2005
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