Syria feels heat in Lebanon

Syrian troops on duty at a Hezbollah rally in Beirut

Syria's strong military presence in Lebanon has come under attack in a scathing editorial in a Beirut newspaper.

Al-Nahar strongly criticised recent comments by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Sharaa justifying the continued presence of Syrian troops.

In Syria journalism does not represent public opinion but talks with the tongue of the ruling regime

Jibran Tueni

Israel ended its occupation of Lebanon last month and there have been international calls for Damascus to withdraw as well.

The 1978 United Nations resolution which Israel says it is implementing by pulling out called for the withdrawal of "all foreign forces" from Lebanon.

Al-Nahar editor Jibran Tueni, an outspoken critic of Syria, accused Mr Sharaa of being completely out of touch with Lebanese popular opinion when citing Lebanese support for Syria's position.

Sharaa: Syrian presence "not permanent"

The controversy came as UN teams began verifying the Lebanese-Israeli border to certify Israel's compliance with the resolution.

One team is driving along the two sides of the border, accompanied by officials from each side, checking key points on a line mapped earlier in the week by UN cartographers.

A UN spokesman said that certification could be completed by Friday.

'No support'

Mr Sharaa told an Arab TV station this week that Syrian troops were still needed to maintain stability in Lebanon and would not leave until requested to do so by the pro-Damascus government in Beirut.

"We completely reject your words and the words of Lebanese officials who use this same justification to keep Syrian troops here," Mr Tueni wrote.

A Lebanese officer discusses the border with the UN team

The editorial said Mr Sharaa could not understand the widespread support on the streets for a Syrian withdrawal because he was used to a media that merely repeated government opinions.

Analysts say Syria keeps about 35,000 troops in Lebanon and their presence is resented by sectors of the fractured Lebanese society.

In a Lebanese TV interview on Thursday Mr Sharaa said the military presence was "certainly temporary".

But he said Syria's historical and cultural presence in Lebanon, as well as commercial ties and open borders, would never come to an end.

Economic interests

Damascus sent its soldiers to Lebanon in 1976 in a doomed attempt to stop the civil war which continued to rage until 1991.

Syrian nationalists help a disabled man to see the liberated Lebanese border

The Syrian army has guaranteed the relative inter-factional peace that has reigned since.

Damascus and Beirut also have tied their interests together in stalled negotiations with Israel.

BBC correspondent Barbara Plett says that - now Israeli troops have left - both France and the US have called on Damascus to withdraw.

But she says most Lebanese doubt whether Syria will ever leave because it has vital economic links with Lebanon.