The withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after a 29-year military presence will be completed by Sunday, a senior military officer has said. "Tomorrow everything will be over," the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday. He did not elaborate, but it appeared that the withdrawal would include the Anjar base in eastern Lebanon occupied by Syria's chief of military intelligence in Lebanon, Major General Rustom Ghazale. The same officer said earlier this week that Ghazale would evacuate Anjar by Tuesday.
On Saturday night, the largest number of Syrian troops to leave Lebanon in one batch vacated at least 10 positions in the northern part of the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. Under pouring rain, dozens of trucks carrying hundreds of soldiers and 150 armored vehicles towing cannons and rocket launchers were seen heading to the Lebanese-Syrian Masnaa border point, witnesses said. |