DAMASCUS, Sept 26 (AFP) - An official Syrian daily said Sunday it hoped to clear up a "misunderstanding" with France which co-sponsored a UN resolution that implicitly demanded an end to Syria's political and military dominance of Lebanon.
"We hope that this French position disappears and that the misunderstanding is cleared up in favor of French-Syrian friendship," the Ath Thawra daily said.
"We do not wish to lose (the friendship) of France, nor that of the French people which are known for their honorable positions," it said in an editorial.
But it said "France has put itself on the side of US-Israeli pressure (on Syria) following the American war on Iraq" that ousted the regime of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
"This position is surprising and condemned especially due to the close friendship linking the two countries," it said.
France and the United States sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 1559, adopted on September 2, that called for the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and respect for its sovereignty.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to report early next month on compliance with the resolution.
In apparent response to the resolution, Syria last week began withdrawing about 3,000 troops from Lebanon in a limited pullback operation after which some 15,000 Syrian troops would be left in Lebanon.
But to the fury of France and the United States, a day after Resolution 1559 was passed, Lebanon adopted a controversial Syrian-inspired amendment to its constitution allowing President Emile Lahoud to serve for another three years.