WESTFIELD, New Jersey - President George W. Bush on Friday stepped up calls for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon warning the Damascus government that there could be "no half-hearted measures".
"Syria, Syrian troops, Syrian intelligence services must get out of Lebanon now," Bush said in a speech here.
The US leader also welcomed Saudi Arabia joining international calls for Syria to pull its 14,000 troops out of Lebanon, where anti-Syrian feeling has mounted since the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri last month.
The United States and France have been among leading international voices against the prolonged Syrian presence since then.
Bush recalled how on a recent tour of Europe he and President Jacques Chirac had agreed about Lebanon's future.
"One of the thing we really understand is that Syria, Syrian troops, Syrian intelligence services must get out of Lebanon now," Bush said.
"Lebanon is a democracy and we strongly support that democracy. I was pleased that Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia sent a very strong message.
"The world is speaking to Syria with one voice: We want that democracy in Lebanon to succeed. And we know it cannot succeed so long as it is occupied by a foreign power. There are no half-measures involved. We mean complete withdrawal, no half-hearted measures."
03/04/2005 16:51 GMT - AFP