UNITED NATIONS, March 17 -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expects Syria to withdraw all of its 20,000 troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon before the country holds parliamentary elections this spring, according to a statement issued by his spokesman.
The announcement marked the first time that the United Nations has set a deadline for the complete withdrawal of Syrian security forces, who have held sway over Lebanon for 29 years. It followed a series of confidential discussions between Annan's top envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, and Lebanese and Syrian political leaders.
It remained unclear whether Syria had pledged to meet the U.N. deadline. But Roed-Larsen hinted at a news conference at U.N. headquarters that it had, noting that Thursday's announcement was the result of his discussions with Syrian officials over the past week.
Roed-Larsen said there was a "unique, remarkable and broad consensus" within the U.N. Security Council and among other key governments that Syria should get out of Lebanon before the election. But he added that there is no immediate plan to impose sanctions on Syria if it fails to meet the deadline set by Annan.
"The secretary general expects the full withdrawal of all Syrian troops, including the intelligence apparatus and military assets, to take place before the Lebanese parliamentary elections," he said. "There isn't an 'or else.' We simply expect that it happens."
Annan maintained that holding "free and fair elections" on schedule is crucial to ensure a stable political transition in Lebanon.
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the United States shares Annan's expectations of a swift departure by Syria. "There are elections in May," he said. "We want those elections to be free of foreign interference. We can't imagine how that can happen if there are Syrian troops and intelligence operatives still in Lebanon."
The United States and France co-sponsored a U.N. resolution in September that demanded the full withdrawal of all foreign forces, including Syria's, from Lebanon. Resolution 1559 was adopted after Damascus pressed Lebanon's political leaders to amend the constitution to allow President Emile Lahoud, an ally of Syria, to remain in office for an additional three years.
But international support for Syria's withdrawal gained momentum after the Feb. 14 assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
Still, the council's lone Arab envoy, Abdallah Baali of Algeria, challenged Roed-Larsen's assessment, insisting that there is no agreement in the 15-nation council on the U.N. timetable. "I don't know how he can say that," Baali said. "The Security Council did not discuss Lebanon, so nobody can say the Security Council's position is to have Syria out by the election."
Faced with mounting international pressure, Syrian President Bashar Assad pledged during a March 12 meeting with Larsen in Aleppo, Syria, to withdraw from Lebanon in two phases. But Syria has not committed publicly to a timetable for the full withdrawal of its forces.
Roed-Larsen said Thursday that Syria has already "by and large" met its obligation to complete the first phase by April 1, shutting down its intelligence headquarters in Beirut and pulling its military and intelligence forces back to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.
He said he will travel to Lebanon in the first week of April to verify the withdrawal for an April 19 report to the Security Council on Syria's compliance with Resolution 1559.
