Syria has denied having offered to withdraw its approximately 16,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon, and officials in Damascus disclaimed remarks by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to the effect that Syrian President Bashir al-Assad had promised an imminent pullback of those forces. "President Assad stressed more than once his firm determination to go on with implementing the Taif agreement and achieve Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, in accordance with this agreement," Moussa had announced. But Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah told the BBC that this had been the result of a misunderstanding, and that his country's forces would merely be redeployed within Lebanon. Analysts speculated whether the apparent misunderstanding could signal divisions over policy in Damascus, where some believe a power struggle is underway between hardliners from the regime of al-Assad's father, former Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad, and more moderate elements that see a need for fundamental reforms in Syria.
Bashir al-Assad last week appointed his brother-in-law, Brigadier-General Assaf Shawkat, as head of the powerful military intelligence service, replacing General Hassan Khalil, who had reached retirement age, according to the BBC. The news service quoted Syrian sources as saying that the move was intended to consolidate the ruling family's grip on the police and security apparatus.