October 21, 2004
Syria and Lebanon have rejected outright a renewed United Nations Security Council call for Damascus to pull its troops out of its tiny neighbour, calling the international body's decision "interference". The declarations came after the 15-member UN Security Council agreed on a statement calling on Damascus to comply with Resolution 1559, adopted in September, that demanded foreign troops be pulled out of Lebanon. Syria is believed to have around 16,000 troops on the ground in Lebanon, the remains of a much larger force sent in during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara, speaking in Brussels, said 1559 was "illegal intervention" in his country's relations with Lebanon. "Our position remains as it was ... 1559 is illegal intervention in Syrian-Lebanese bilateral relationship," he said.
The statement calls on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to report to the council every six months on the implementation of Resolution 1559, which also demands the disarming of militant groups in Lebanon such as Hezbollah. The statement was adopted unanimously despite initial opposition on the council, which only passed the September resolution with the minimum of nine votes in favour and six abstentions.
At the United Nations, Syrian Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad said that it was up to Lebanon to decide when Syrian troops should leave. "Syria is very much committed to continue helping the Lebanese brotherly people until a final agreement is reached, as requested by the Lebanese Government, vis-a-vis the Syrian presence in Lebanon," he said. "Lebanon still considers Resolution 1559 a dangerous precedent of interference on the part of the UN Security Council in the internal affairs of a UN member state," said the Lebanese Foreign Ministry's Secretary-General, Mohammad Issa.
Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon and the current furore was set off when the Lebanese Parliament changed the constitution last month to allow President Emile Lahoud, a Syrian protege, to stay in office for an extra three years. In the wake of the security council decision, Lahoud arch-foe Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri resigned and said he was not a candidate to form another government.
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss wrote in an editorial Tuesday that while relations between his country and Syria needed to be "cleansed", an over-hasty withdrawal would leave Syria open to attack by Israel. "An attack launched by Israel against Syria through Lebanese territory would put the Syrian capital within Israeli firing range," he wrote in the An-Nahar daily. He went on to say that heavy-handedness by external forces aimed at getting Syrian troops out "could lead to conflicts" within Lebanon.
Despite Syrian and Lebanese rejection of the security council decision, some said the Security Council statement had been a diplomatic success for the two countries. The signing "will have the effect of reducing Franco-American pressure on the two countries, said pro-Damascus Lebanese MP Nasser Kandil. As proof, he cited the signing in Brussels on Tuesday of an association agreement between Syria and the European Union after years of negotiations.
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