A Lebanese political source said on Sunday he believes Syria will go ahead with its redeployment in the Lebanese territories by April 2005, reports the London-based daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat.
April 2005 is when Secretary General of the U.N. Kofi Annan is due to publish his second report concerning the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1559, which demands that the Syrian army pull out of Lebanon.
The Lebanese source added that it was his understanding that the Syrian forces in Lebanon – estimated at 15,000 soldiers – are reserve forces which do not have any actual military duties at present.
On the other hand, a Syrian source – talking to A-Sharq Al-Awsat – denied the information that was released to the media, that Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq A-Shara’ told Collin Powell at the recent Sharm A-Sheikh summit that Syria plans to evacuate Lebanon within the first half of 2005, leaving only 5,000 soldiers there.
The source went on to assert that this was not to say that Syria will not evacuate Lebanon, but that this move would be discussed in due course. The source also asserted that Damascus is handling Resolution 1559 in a positive and reasonable way.