Farewell ceremony ends Syria's Lebanon presence

SYRIA'S 29-year military presence in Lebanon ended yesterday when Syrian soldiers flashing victory signs crossed back over the border, completing a retreat brought about by international pressure and massive Lebanese protests.

At a farewell ceremony near their shared border, a Syrian commander told Lebanese troops: "Brothers in arms, so long." The soldiers responded: "So long."

A Lebanese commander then addressed his words to the Syrians, saying: "Brothers in arms, thank you for your sacrifices." His soldiers repeated: "Thank you for your sacrifices."

After the ceremony, the Syrian intelligence chief in Lebanon, Major General Rustom Ghazali, 10 carloads of intelligence agents and the remaining 250 Syrian soldiers crossed the border.

At the crossing, about 25 Lebanese civilians saluted Maj Ghazali, who accepted a poster from a Lebanese man that said: "Thank you Syria." On the Syrian side, hundreds of Syrians waved flags in the streets of Jedeidit Yabous. The Syrians entered Lebanon in 1976, ostensibly as peacekeepers in Lebanon's year-old civil war.

After the war ended in 1990, about 40,000 Syrian troops remained, giving Damascus the decisive say in Lebanese politics.

International pressure and Lebanese anger over the February 14 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri helped turn the tide against Syria. The opposition blamed the murder on the Lebanese government and its Syrian backers, accusations both deny. Huge demonstrations in Beirut brought down the pro-Syrian government, and UN and US pressure intensified on Damascus until it withdrew its army.

Shaaban al-Ajami, the mayor of nearby Lebanese border village of Majdal Anjar, said he was happy to see the Syrians leave: "I feel like someone who was suffocated and jailed and has finally emerged from jail."

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sent a team led by Senegalese Brig Gen Mouhamadou Kandji to verify the withdrawal.