BEIRUT, April 27: Lebanon’s new government said on Wednesday elections would be held next month, bolstered by a strong vote of confidence in parliament just a day after the last Syrian soldier left the country. Many people hope the end of Syria’s 29-year military domination signals a new era for Lebanon, which still bears the scars of its devastating civil war, but doubts linger over whether Damascus has truly relinquished control.
Interior Minister Hassan Sabeh signed a decree for legislative polls to be held on four consecutive Sundays between May 29 and June 19, shortly after new Prime Minister Nagib Miqati easily won a confidence vote in parliament.
The staging of elections on time was a key demand of the Lebanese opposition and the international community which had piled the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s regime to pull out of its smaller neighbour.
On Tuesday, Lebanese danced in the streets and Syrians waved national flags as the last troops crossed the border back home, dealing a blow to the regional powerbroker status of Damascus and its standoff with Israel.
“We have turned a shameful page in the history of Lebanon and for the first time in 30 years, we can talk freely,” opposition MP Butros Harb said.
With Washington wary that Damascus is leaving “intelligence assets” behind, a UN team of experts is in Syria and is due also to visit Lebanon on a mission to verify the pullout.
The departure of the Syrian troops, who first moved into Lebanon as a buffer force a year after the start of the 1975-1990 civil war, was greeted warily by the United States, while the United Nations said it was awaiting verification.
Syria’s domination over the past three decades has been so pervasive and so painful to the Lebanese that many are still wary that Damascus could ever stop interfering.
Even with the troops gone, Syria’s influence remains strong, with close allies in President Emile Lahoud and parliament speaker Nabih Berri as well as the powerful Shia movements Amal and Hezbollah.
Miqati, himself a close friend of Mr Assad, took office after vowing to meet opposition demands for prompt polls and for action over the February killing of ex-premier Rafik Hariri — blamed by many on the regime and its political masters in Damascus.
US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli hailed the pullout but said: “I think there are some lingering concerns that not all Syrian intelligence assets are out of Lebanon.”
Damascus, which had one stage had as many as 40,000 men in Lebanon with which it was able to wield control over many walks of life, formally notified the United Nations on Tuesday of the “complete withdrawal” of its troops.
In his report to the Security Council on Tuesday, UN chief Kofi Annan said in a report that he had received assurances from Lebanon and Syria that military intelligence agents had not stayed behind.
But Mr Annan said he could not actually verify the pullout until a technical team due to visit both Damascus and Beirut reported back to him, and he also reiterated UN demands for all militias to be disarmed.
Mr Annan also said: “I have been particularly concerned about the holding of parliamentary elections as a test of the sovereignty, unity and political independence of Lebanon.”
A delay in holding the polls “would contribute to further exacerbating the political divisions in Lebanon and threaten the security, stability and prosperity of the country,” he warned.
For his part, Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmud Hammud said: “We assert that the withdrawal is complete according to information from the (Lebanese) army command.”
But on the calls for disarming the Hezbollah, Mr Hammud said: “It is not a militia but a national resistance movement defending Lebanon and occupied Lebanese territories in the south.”
Another UN team was due in Lebanon on Wednesday to prepare the ground for a commission of inquiry to probe the killing of Mr Hariri in a bomb blast. —AFP
