 |
Gary Fitleberg is a political analyst specializing in International Relations with an emphasis on Middle East affairs.
|
|
|
|
By Gary Fitleberg
April 27, 2005
Springtime was the world's deadline for Syria to end its staging ground for terrorism and strategic occupation of Lebanon for twenty-nine years. At long last.
A welcome end to the "occupation" of Lebanon by one of the top state supporters of terrorism, according to the U.S. State Department.
Syrian "occupied" Lebanon was used as the staging ground with its "Axis of Evil" partner Iran to launch attacks on Israel's northern border by Hezbollah.
Some five years after the Israel Defense Forces's withdrawal from Lebanon, Syria is finally following suit. A handful of Syrian soldiers will remain today in Lebanon to participate in a modest ceremony to mark the occasion; but immediately thereafter United Nations envoys will be able to report that, in the field at least, Syria has fulfilled its obligations vis-a-vis the section of Security Council Resolution 1559 that demands it withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
But let's not get too excited about Syria's exit. The other part of the resolution, which demands the disarming of Hezbollah and "the remaining militias" still awaits its turn.
The farewell tour by the head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, General Rustum Ghazaleh, and the resignation of the head of the Lebanese intelligence service, Jamil al-Sayyid, are perhaps the most important achievements secured by the Lebanese -- the management of internal security by means of Lebanon's army alone.
With the Syrians gone, Lebanese now look ahead to an election that should prove freer of Syrian influence but still runs the risk of sinking into violence. Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition is hoping to defeat Damascus' political allies at the ballot box.
The withdrawal would have been unthinkable only a few months ago. But amid series of strategic blunders by Syrian President Bashar Assad, Damascus came under relentless international pressure that intensified after the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The United States in particular is keeping up demands for an end to Syria's influence.
After weeks of Syrians vacating their posts -- with celebrations by Lebanese elated to see them go -- Lebanon's pro-Syrian leadership was eager to give a dignified finish to the pullout.
Top military brass from both sides exchanged medals at an hour-long ceremony at an air base near their shared border, and they emphasized the nations' close ties will continue.
A Syrian commander told Lebanese troops at the ceremony: "Brothers in arms, 'til we meet again." The Lebanese replied, "'Till we meet again" -- using the Arabic phrase ila liqaa, a breezier goodbye than the more formal "farewell."
"Brothers in arms, thank you for your sacrifices," a Lebanese commander then told the Syrians.
Lebanese army commander Michel Suleiman pledged continued cooperation and credited the Syrian army with ending the 1975-90 civil war and rebuilding Lebanese forces. "Together we shall always remain brothers in arms in the face of the Israeli enemy," Suleiman said.
The two dozen or so Lebanese who stood at the border were less charitable as they watched the last 250 Syrians leave -- remnants of a one-time mighty force of 40,000 that ran the country virtually unchallenged since arriving as peacekeepers in 1976.
"I feel like someone who was suffocated and jailed and has finally emerged from jail," said Shaaban al-Ajami, mayor of the Lebanese border village of Majdal Anjar.
Syria's last soldier in Lebanon walked across the border Tuesday, welcomed home with cheers and flowers after a modest farewell from the Lebanese, a quiet end to a once indomitable 29-year military presence that was the key to Damascus' control of its neighbor.
"We don't want to say goodbye. We are happy to see them leave," said Hussein Mansour, 27, who stood at the border holding the lone Lebanese flag.
Opposition leader Walid Jumblatt was delighted.
"The Syrian tutelage is over," Jumblatt said. "If they had implemented Taif before we wouldn't have seen this insulting, humiliating scene for the Arab Syrian army," he told LBC television, referring to a 1989 deal that called for Syria's gradual withdrawal but was never implemented.
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli called the withdrawal an important first step toward Syria's compliance with a U.N. Security Council resolution.
But he said there were "lingering concerns" Syria had not withdrawn all its intelligence agents, adding that the Bush administration was looking forward to the report by a U.N. team sent to verify the withdrawal.
Eager to ease the international pressure, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa quickly informed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a letter that his country had complied with U.N. demands.
A report by Annan released Tuesday noted progress but said Damascus hasn't met several other provisions of Security Council resolution 1559. Annan said there had been no movement in other areas, including the requirement that militias be disarmed -- a clear reference to the Syrian- and Iranian-backed guerrilla group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah remains a potent military force and has refused to lay down its weapons. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah on Monday repeated the stance -- which the Lebanese government has supported -- that Hezbollah "is not a militia. It is a resistance (movement)" so the U.N. resolution does not apply.
Syrian intelligence chief Rustom Ghazale, the general who was considered the de facto leader of Lebanon, crossed into Syria along with dozens of armed plainclothes agents in speeding cars. A few minutes later, the remaining 250 Syrian soldiers waved and flashed victory signs as they entered Syria in buses, trucks and other vehicles.
"Of course, we are happy to return to Syria," said a helmeted Syrian soldier, one of four on guard duty who said they were the last to remain in Lebanon after the bulk of the troops had left.
"That's all I have to say," the soldier said, waving his AK-47 assault rifle before he walked across the border and hopped into a pickup truck to join the three others for the trip home.
At the Jedeidit Yabous border point on the Syrian side -- a 10-minute drive away on the road to Damascus hundreds of Syrians waved flags, danced and climbed on the buses carrying the troops as they chanted: "God, Syria and Bashar only."
"I'm so happy they're back," said Noura Sabbagh, 16, a red rose in her hand that she hoped to give to a soldier.
For Syria, the withdrawal means the loss of a strategic card in the confrontation with arch-foe Israel. Lebanon also brought economic benefits for Syria, with up to 1 million Syrian workers going to the neighboring country of 3.5 million looking for better paying jobs. Most have left.
Syria's fortunes in Lebanon began to unravel in September when Damascus orchestrated a three-year extension of President Emile Lahoud's term.
Hariri's assassination -- a bombing Syria's opponents blamed on the pro-Syrian Lebanese government and its Syrian backers -- galvanized the opposition, which mounted huge "Syria out" protests, and encouraged the world to intervene.
Syrians found themselves facing a united world -- the West and even ally Russia -- plus Syria's traditional influential Arab friends Egypt and Saudi Arabia. France, Syria's longtime friend, set aside its differences over the Iraq war with Washington to draft a joint U.N. resolution demanding Syrian forces leave.
On Tuesday, Lebanon was free of foreign troops for the first time in nearly three decades Israeli forces withdrew in 2000. Now its various religious, political and sectarian factions must deal with each other.
Parliament opened debate Tuesday on the confirmation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati's new government, a first step to prepare for elections to take place by May 29.
Outside parliament, relatives of Lebanese jailed in Syria scuffled with the army and beat lawmakers' cars with the Lebanese flag during a demonstration demanding freedom for their loved ones. Two protesters were loaded into an ambulance and two others got first aid.
Damascus still wields influence here. Lahoud is a Syrian ally, Mikati is a close friend of Assad and the current parliament is dominated by pro-Syrians.
But Syria's military occupation is at least a start into bringing Syria's accountability in its role of state-supported terrorism. All bad things come to an end eventually.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
