Syria to quit Lebanon 'in April'

A phased withdrawal of troops from Lebanon began last month

Syria will withdraw all its troops from Lebanon by 30 April, the UN envoy to the Middle East has said.

Terje Roed-Larsen was given the details for the pull-out of remaining forces when he met Syrian leaders in Damascus.

Syria earlier pledged to remove its armed forces before Lebanon's elections in May, but had no firm timetable.

Calls for Syria to end its military presence in Lebanon grew following the assassination in February of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The Lebanese opposition accused Syria of being behind the car bomb that killed Hariri, and street protests led to the downfall of the pro-Syrian administration in Beirut, though Damascus denied any involvement.

Mr Roed-Larsen announced the final withdrawal date after holding talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara.

He said Mr Shara told him "that all Syrian troops, military assets and the intelligence apparatus will have been withdrawn fully and completely latest by 30 April 2005".

Mr Roed-Larsen said the commitment implied all Syrian security forces would be withdrawn in line with the 1989 Taif agreement, which paved the way for the end of the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war, and September's UN Security Council resolution 1559.

Correspondents say nobody expected a withdrawal to happen so quickly, but Hariri's assassination changed everything.

Syria has already completed the first stage of the withdrawal, cutting its troops numbers in Lebanon by almost half to 8,000 and pulling the rest back to the eastern Bekaa valley.