Syria finally ends military presence in Lebanon

Parents and relatives of Lebanese prisoners and detainees in the Syrian prisons in Syria, clash with security men Tuesday during a demonstration in front of the parliament in Beirut demanding the Lebanese deputies to take action to release their loved ones. PHOTO: AFP

Some 250 soldiers in red berets and camouflage, the last Syrian troops remaining in Lebanon, shouted chants supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad during the ceremony at the army air base at Rayak, a few miles from the Syrian border.

The soldiers' departure comes after heavy international and Lebanese pressure following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Anger over the killing helped turn the tide against Syria's longtime presence in Lebanon. The opposition blamed the murder on the Lebanese government and its Syrian backers, accusations both governments deny.

Syria has gradually pulled out its 14,000 troops from Lebanon over the last two months.

Syrian forces, led by their feared intelligence chief General Rustom Ghazaleh, left Lebanon on Monday, ushering in a new era for the tiny country which has been in the military and political grip of Damascus for 29 years.

As overjoyed residents threw flowers after Ghazaleh drove back home in a large convoy, Lebanese troops deployed for the first time across cities and towns evacuated by the Syrian army.

In another blow to Syria's influence, the pro-Damascus chief of Lebanon's General Security service, Jamil Sayyed, quit Monday ahead of a UN probe into February's assassination of five-time prime minister Rafiq Hariri which triggered a seachange in the country.

Ghazaleh, who held a tight grip on political life in Lebanon for years, crossed the border after evacuating the notorious Syrian army headquarters in the eastern town of Anjar and giving back the house he had been occupying for years in nearby Shtaura.

A Lebanese flag was seen fluttering over the evacuated Syrian headquarters. Ghazaleh himself was expected to return to Lebanon briefly on Tuesday for a formal farewell ceremony that will seal the Syrian withdrawal.

"A few hours from now, and a new era will start in Lebanon," read the headline in the French-language L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper.

A UN team is due in the region this week to verify the withdrawal, carried out in the face of intense international pressure following Hariri's assassination in a massive bomb blast on the Beirut seafront.

Most Syrian troops have now crossed the border, bar the token force scheduled to attend Tuesday's official send-off.

The same day, UN chief Kofi Annan is due to report to the Security Council on Syria's compliance with a resolution it passed last September requiring the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Israel voiced hope the pullout could pave the way to normal relations with Lebanon, but expressed doubt over whether Syria would actually withdraw all military and intelligence forces or end its backing for anti-Israeli Hezbollah guerrillas.