Post by POA on Mar 4, 2005 14:28:00 GMT -5
Bush Prods Syria to Leave Lebanon by May
Fri Mar 4,10:36 AM ET
Politics - Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said in an interview published on Friday that Syria should pull all of its troops out of Lebanon by May to clear the way for fair elections.
"The subject that is most on my mind right now is getting Syria out of Lebanon, and I don't mean just the troops out of Lebanon, I mean all of them out of Lebanon, particularly the secret service out of Lebanon -- the intelligence services," Bush said in an interview with the New York Post.
"This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out. ... I think we've got a good chance to achieve that objective and to make sure that the May elections (in Lebanon) are fair. I don't think you can have fair elections with Syrian troops there," the president said.
Asked if Bush was setting a May deadline, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush made clear he wants Syria to withdraw immediately.
"Syria needs to get out so that we ensure those elections are free and fair," McClellan said. "We need to see action, not words."
Asked about Syrian plans to announce a partial withdrawal, the Bush spokesman said: "They need to withdraw all their military forces and all their intelligence services."
A Lebanese political source said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is expected to announce on Saturday a partial pullout of troops from Lebanon, with some troops leaving completely and the rest redeploying close to the border.
But in the interview, Bush stressed that time had run out for Syria to play its old game of haggling over which troops will get pulled out or how far they will go.
"When the United States says something, it must mean it. That's what I meant when I said, 'Remove all your troops,' not remove 94 percent of them," the president said.
Asked if there was a threat of military action if Syria refused, Bush told the Post: "No. The 'or else' is further isolation from the world. You know, the president should never take any options off the table, (but) my last choice is military."
The United States and European allies are considering joint measures to punish Syria if it fails to take concrete steps to withdraw from Lebanon, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Washington's goal, according to administration and congressional officials, is to be ready to act quickly in conjunction with Europe, possibly with a tougher U.N. resolution and international sanctions.
Those measures would come on top of new unilateral sanctions Washington is considering imposing on its own. Those include freezing Syrian assets to isolating its banking system further.
