 The first phase of the Syrian pullout from Lebanon is almost complete. "It roughly ended," a Lebanese security source said Thursday, adding that there were only some logistics left to be worked out. However, the evacuation of the Syrian intelligence posts in the country was not completed peacefully. In North Lebanon, as soon as the Halba post was evacuated Wednesday, supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and disbanded Lebanese Forces Party (LF), raising Lebanese flags and shouting slogans of victory, headed to the monuments of Syrian Presidents Hafez Assad and his son Bashar in an attempt to remove them. However, upon reaching the area, the groups were met by supporters of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party and the Baath Party.
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The confrontation that ensued soon turned into a fistfight, prompting the intervention of Lebanese Army intelligence units.
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As a result of the scuffle, the two monuments were transferred from the Halba Square to the area's army-intelligence headquarters. In Qobeiyat, similar clashes had also been reported late Tuesday when FPM and LF supporters shouted anti-Syrian slogans at a bus transporting Syrian intelligence personnel. The armed passengers exited from the bus and tried to ward off the protestors and return to their posts until units of the Lebanese Army cordoned off the area and removed the demonstrators. It has been widely reported that some 10,000 Syrian troops remain in the Bekaa Valley, while 4,000 have already crossed over into Syria. |