Egypt and Saudi Arabia join joint U.S./French call for Syria to withdraw Lebanese troops
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are trying to persuade Syria to accept a timetable to withdraw its 15,000 troops from Lebanon, maybe by the end of April, Arab diplomats said Tuesday.
[...]
The Arab diplomats, speaking in Cairo on condition of anonymity, said the Egyptian-Saudi proposal is based on the 1989 Arab-brokered Taif Accord that ended Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.
Syrian troops were sent to Lebanon as part of an Arab peacekeeping force in 1976. The agreement, secured in the Saudi city of Taif, called for Syria to re-deploy its troops in Lebanon within two years before a full withdrawal later.
But Syria has not complied with the accord, something that is fanning massive anti-Damascus discontent in Lebanon, where many blame Syria and the toppled Lebanese government of involvement in Hariri's killing. Both governments have denied any role.
"The Arabs sent in the Syrians to Lebanon and they can ask them now to pull out," said one diplomat familiar with the efforts.
Egyptian and Saudi officials are discussing a formula to persuade Syria to declare a withdrawal timetable, "possibly as soon as possible," another Arab diplomat said.
"The objective is not to please the United States nor the international community, but rather to save Syria from a serious conflict that will pitch it against the whole world," he said.
Cairo and Riyadh want to avoid a repeat of their failure to convince toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to defuse his crisis with the United States before the 2003 invasion of Iraq that toppled his regime.
[I love it!
These Arabs are worried that President Bush will decide to "régime change" one of them next...You never know, boys!
That crazy cowboy Bush just doesn't like tyrants and thugs in your part of the world!
Bush's policies continue to bear fruit!
Is the Left still gonna stick with their "Bush lied, people died." mantra?--Jen]
The United States and France have been leading calls for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. Washington has accused Syria of aiding the anti-US insurgency in Iraq. It also linked Friday's Tel Aviv suicide bombing to Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants based in Syria. Damascus has denied the claims.
The latest edition of Time magazine quotes Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying he would withdraw his troops completely "maybe in the next few months. Not after that."
[...]
One of the Arab envoys said Egypt and Saudi Arabia are proposing Syria start an immediate, token withdrawal with a full pullout completed before the end of April.
[WOW!
No time like the present, before this "disease" of democracy has a chance to become an epidemic!
Read on, though:]
The Egyptian-Saudi initiative is to be raised during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo late Wednesday ahead of an official meeting Thursday to prepare for an Arab leadership summit later in the month in Algeria.
[Boy! that's a lot of meetings!]
Syrian Cabinet minister Buthaina Shaaban criticized Arab states for indifference toward restructure the area."
"What are Arab governments doing in this or that targeted state in this (American) scheme of change," Shaaban wrote in Monday's edition of London-based Asharq Al Awsat.
Fasten your seatbelt, stock up on snacks and keep your modem on because the winds of change aren't just blowing through the Arab world, there's a veritable tsunami of democracy breaking over the region!
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