Syrian withdrawal delayed to after April 7 talks

Syrian troops will not withdraw completely from Lebanon until at least after an April 7 meeting between senior Syrian and Lebanese military officers to discuss their redeployment, Lebanon’s foreign minister said today.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud said the joint military commission would set the “duration, time and location in these matters”.

He made the remarks after meeting with UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen in Beirut, a day after Roed-Larsen had visited Syrian President Bashar Assad.

It was the first definitive word on when Syria will actually fix a date for full withdrawal.

Roed-Larsen indicated he had extracted a timetable for full withdrawal from Assad during their meeting today, but would not reveal it until he had met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York this week.