Syria tried to turn humiliation into celebration on Tuesday as as its troops bade farewell to Lebanon and were welcomed across the border by crowds waving Syrian flags and pictures of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad.
But the ceremonies orchestrated by Damascus and its Lebanese supporters were dampened just a few hours later by a warning from the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, that Syria had not yet met all the demands of the United Nations security council.
In particular, he cast doubt on whether Syria had fully dismantled its intelligence network in Lebanon.
”Some [UN] member states, as well as members of the Lebanese opposition, have asserted to me that Syrian military intelligence has taken up new positions in the south of Beirut and elsewhere, and has been using headquarters of parties affiliated with the government of Syria as well as privately rented apartments for their purposes,” he said in a report to the council.
Although the Lebanese and Syrian governments had assured him this was not true, he said: ”Representatives of the government of Lebanon and other parties have also asserted that difficulties of completing a full withdrawal of all persons associated with the Syrian intelligence apparatus in Lebanon might arise.”
This doubt was linked to the fact that Syrian officials had established family ties in Lebanon over the past 30 years, and to the existence of a network of informers among Lebanese citizens.
There were scarcely any reminders at Tuesday’s hour-long goodbye ceremony in Lebanon of the intense international pressure that had forced Damascus to pull its forces out, nor of the explosion on February 14 that killed the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, and triggered huge anti-Syrian demonstrations in Beirut.
To all appearances, the Syrians were leaving behind a grateful nation, their job well done. ”Brothers in arms, thank you for your sacrifices,” the commander of Lebanese soldiers told the departing Syrian troops. ”Thank you for your sacrifices,” his men repeated.
There was an exchange of medals, too; Lebanese medals for General Rustum Ghazaleh, the Syrian intelligence chief who until recently was the most feared man in Lebanon, and for President Assad’s brother-in-law, Brigadier General Assef Shawkat.
The Lebanese army commander, Michel Suleiman, who on Tuesday praised Syria’s role in bringing peace to Lebanon, got a Syrian medal in return.
As Ghazaleh arrived at the border crossing into Syria, accompanied by 10 carloads of intelligence agents, Lebanese civilians saluted him and one gave him a poster saying ”Thank you Syria”.
Elsewhere in Lebanon reactions were more muted. Lebanon’s new Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, a cellphone millionaire with Syrian business links, spoke of ”a new political era in the relations between the two brethren countries” and looked forward to ”close cooperation in all fields”.
Among the anti-Syrian opposition there was nothing to match, or even approach, the jubilation witnessed five years ago when Israeli troops left southern Lebanon.
One reason for that is that many people are still unconvinced they have seen the end of Syrian influence.
”Syria had enough time to infiltrate all the national institutions in Lebanon,” said the former Lebanese president Amin Gemayel. ”Syria controls the presidency, the Parliament and the government and all the other institutions and political parties. Syria was creating a creeping annexation policy and it won’t be very easy to get rid of the consequences of this hegemony.”
Anxious not to be seen as having buckled under international pressure, Damascus has portrayed its withdrawal as an implementation of the 1989 Taif accord, on terms amicably agreed with the Lebanese government, which fortuitously coincides with the demands of security council resolution 1559.
In his report on Tuesday, Annan said ”significant and noticeable progress” had been made towards implementing some provisions of the resolution, especially concerning Syria’s commitment to withdraw all its troops, military assets and intelligence apparatus.
While it is now obvious that thousands of Syrian troops have gone from Lebanon, proving to the satisfaction of the security council, and particularly to the Americans, that they and the intelligence agents have all left may be another matter.
UN experts were due on Tuesday in Damascus, where they hope to obtain maps of Syria’s abandoned positions and final reports on the status of its military and intelligence presence in Lebanon. The team will then travel to Lebanon, where they will attempt to verify that the withdrawal is complete. – Guardian Unlimited Â