07 March 2005	Monday	25 Muharram 1426

DAMASCUS, March 6: Syria was to start redeploying its troops in Lebanon after a Damascus meeting between their two presidents on Monday in the hope of easing stifling international pressure for a full withdrawal.

The meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud was to come two days after Mr Assad told parliament that his 14,000 troops in Lebanon would redeploy to the Syrian border.

Lebanon's outgoing Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad said on Sunday that Syria would start after the meeting the much-awaited pullback of troops in Lebanon who have been stationed there for 29 years.

"The redeployment to the Bekaa will start after the meeting of the Syrian-Lebanese (supreme) council which should take place on Monday in Damascus," Mr Mrad told reporters.

The Syrian president has not made clear whether the troops would cross over into Syria once they had reached the border, prompting calls from the United States and France for an unambiguous pledge for an immediate and full withdrawal.

In Syria, newspapers expressed hope that Mr Assad's speech would earn the country a breathing space in the face of unrelenting pressure from the United States.

"In taking this historic decision, Syria will have, in the eyes of the objective world, honoured its engagements. In this way, we will be able to face current problems and the problems that will come," the government daily Tishrin said.-AFP