10 March 2005	Thursday	28 Muharram 1426

BEIRUT, March 9: Outgoing pro-Syrian premier Omar Karameh was chosen on Wednesday to head a new government less than 10 days after he quit in the face of massive opposition protests, as Syria pressed on with a troop pullback.

Syrian troops pulled back into eastern Lebanon under a redeployment announced at a Lebanese-Syrian summit on Monday under intense international pressure for a full and immediate pullout.

Sixty-nine of the 78 MPs consulted by pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud picked Mr Karameh, a long time political rival of his predecessor Rafiq Hariri who was assassinated in a central Beirut bomb blast on February 14.

Under the Lebanese constitution, the president consults with parliament and must name as prime minister the candidate with the most support among MPs. The opposition, which has blamed the murder of billionaire construction tycoon Hariri on the regime and its political masters in Damascus, did not put forward its own candidate.

An official decree is expected to designate Mr Karameh after a meeting between Lahoud and parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday, a senior Lebanese official said. Asked if he would agree to return to office, the 70-year-old Karameh said: "When I am designated, I will tell you."

The regime has been bolstered by a massive pro-Syrian rally in the heart of Beirut on Tuesday that dwarfed almost daily rallies held by the anti-Syrian opposition after the killing of Hariri. But the strength of Tuesday's rally led by the Hezbollah has fanned fears of inter communal tensions as the country grappled with an uncertain future 15 years after its devastating civil war.

Thousands of people also held a demonstration in Damascus on Wednesday to voice support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, facing the heat from the international community to end his country's three-decade grip on Lebanon.

Assad pledged on Monday to pull back his country's remaining 14,000 troops and unknown number of intelligence forces in Lebanon towards the Bekaa, where most of the troops are already based, by the end of March. But he stopped short of announcing a full withdrawal as demanded by UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Syria's ambassador to the United States nevertheless said Tuesday that the troops would be out of Lebanon by May.

PULLBACK: Syrian troops were seen dismantling positions and offices on mountains near Beirut and in northern Lebanon on Wednesday as they moved eastwards to the border with Syria, while Lebanese army troops deployed in evacuated areas.

Lebanon's caretaker Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Murad said the redeployment of some 6,000 Syrian troops would take between a week and 10 days. The pullback which started on Tuesday night will also cover Syrian intelligence personnel.-AFP

Pullout timetable

MADRID: A UN envoy is to travel to Syria on Thursday to ask Damascus for a date for the withdrawal of its troops required under a UN resolution, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said.