Syria started on Saturday withdrawing its security forces from three key positions in Beirut and north Lebanon and redeployed them in eastern Lebanon. According to the Lebanese army statement, the security positions vacated were in Beirut's international airport, the capital's mainly Shi'ite southern suburb and one in northern Lebanon.
Syria, currently facing mounting international pressure for its military presence in Lebanon, has nearly 14,000 troops in its tiny neighbor. A Lebanese army officer said that Syrian intelligence offices were shut on Saturday at the Beirut International Airport, in Beirut's southern suburbs, and in Batrun, a northern coastal town. The redeployment is the second shift of Syrian forces since the U.N. submitted resolution on September demanding Syria to pull out its forces from Lebanon. According to a security source, meetings between Syrian and Lebanese officials were still under way and more redeployments are expected soon. The source added that security forces were moved to the Bekaa Valley close to the Syrian-Lebanese border. |