Syria is committed to pulling its troops out of Lebanon as demanded by a resolution at the United Nations, whose leader will be given a detailed timetable in the next few days, a United Nations envoy to the region said today.
"I am encouraged by President Assad's commitment to the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1559," Terje Roed-Larsen said after meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
"I will present the Secretary-General Kofi Annan with further details of the timetable for a complete Syrian pullout from Lebanon upon my arrival in New York early next week."
Assad, under intense global pressure, announced a partial withdrawal last week and on Friday, all Syrian troops left northern Lebanon, ending an unbroken 29-year presence and underlining Syria 's diminishing role in its tiny neighbour.
More troops headed home or pulled back closer to the border overnight, in line with the two-phase withdrawal plan.
Small crowds of Syrians waving national flags welcomed the returning soldiers, showering them with rice and flowers as they crossed the border home, witnesses said.
The assassination in Beirut last month of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri sparked daily protests in Beirut against the Syrians, whom some blame for the killing, and redoubled international calls for the Syrians to leave.
US President George W. Bush
has demanded that Syrian troops - along with its less visible intelligence agents - leave before Lebanon's general election due in May.
Syria says it is willing to cooperate to implement September's resolution 1559, sponsored by the United States and France, which called for foreign troops to leave Lebanon but did not specify a date.