Lebanon said on Tuesday Syria would redeploy some of its troops from Lebanon starting from Wednesday as part of an accord that helped end Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
A presidential statement on the redeployment did not mention withdrawal, but a Lebanese army source told Reuters some 4,000 troops would leave Lebanon.
"A joint delegation of the Lebanese and Syrian armies have briefed (Lebanese) President Emile Lahoud at noon today on new arrangements made by the two countries' military commands to start implementing a new phase of Syrian troops redeployment in a number of Lebanese regions," the presidential statement said.
It said the move was in line with the 1989 Taif accord, which stipulated Syria should withdraw its troops to areas near the Syria-Lebanon border and leave within two years as a step to putting the Lebanese government back on its feet after the war.
Lebanese officials said the redeployment would start from Wednesday in the north of the country, particularly from the Batroun area, and would last about five days. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
