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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/25/politics/25syria.html?
Syria Vows to Quit Lebanon But Declines to Say When
(New York Times) Joel Brinkley - Syria, responding to pressure from Washington and the EU, announced Thursday that it would move its military forces throughout Lebanon to the Bekaa region near the Syrian border and, eventually, out of Lebanon altogether. "The decision to withdraw has been taken," Defense Minister Abdul-Rahim Murad told Syrian television. "What remains is the exact timing." On Thursday UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he welcomed the announcement from Damascus but urged the Syrians to withdraw by April. However, senior Lebanese and Syrian officials acknowledge that when the last Syrian soldier departs, Lebanon will still be largely controlled by Syria, because the military presence is only the most visible element of Syrian control. "Today the Syrian intelligence service controls everything," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt told Al Jazeera television on Thursday.