Syrian troop pullback will not start before Tuesday: Lebanese army source

BEIRUT - A widely-anticipated redeployment of Syrian troops in Lebanon being discussed at a Damascus summit on Monday will not take place before Tuesday, a senior Lebanese army officer said.
"The pullback towards the eastern Bekaa Valley by Syrian units deployed on Mount Lebanon overlooking Beirut and northern Lebanon will not take place before Tuesday," said the officer on condition of anonymity.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud were meeting in Damascus to set a timetable for a pullback which is still likely to fall short of international demands for a complete pullout.
Lebanon's outgoing Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad said Sunday that the Syrian military would start the deployment to the Bekaa Valley near the border with Syria.

03/07/2005 11:48 GMT