Syrian troops to start pullback today

Abdul-Rahim Murad said Syrian troops would withdraw from Mount Lebanon and northern Lebanon toward the eastern Bekaa Valley closer to the Lebanon-Syria border.

"The Syrian withdrawal will begin Monday directly after the meeting in Damascus of the Syrian and Lebanese leaderships," Murad said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud were to meet in Damascus with other top officials to discuss the details of the two-stage pullback the Syrian leader announced Saturday.

Murad said the pullback would take place over the course of two or three days.

In a speech to parliament Saturday, Assad announced a two-stage pullback of Syrian forces to the Lebanese border, but failed to address broad international demands that he completely withdraw Syria's 15,000 troops after nearly 30 years in the country.

Assad was vague about the pullback, leaving it unclear if Syrian forces would eventually leave Lebanon or remain inside the country near the Syrian frontier.

The United States issued a strong statement of dissatisfaction with Assad's comments, which came after four weeks of political turmoil in Lebanon set off by the assassination of a popular former prime minister.

On Friday, President Bush demanded that Syria withdraw all its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon before its parliamentary elections in May. The United Nations and France also have demanded that Syria completely withdraw.

Later Saturday, Syrian Immigrant Affairs Minister Buthaina Shaaban indicated Syrian troops would withdraw completely from Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's pledge to redeploy troops in Lebanon divided world opinion yesterday, with some leaders describing the move as a welcome first step but the United States leading complaints it was not enough.

The promise to pull Syria's 14,000 troops in Lebanon back to the border was seen as an attempt to ease international pressure on Damascus, which has mounted since the assassination last month of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.