RIYADH, March 3: Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad On Thursday to pull his troops out of Lebanon "rapidly" in accordance with UN Security Council demands , a Saudi official said.

"Prince Abdullah advised President Assad to withdraw rapidly from Lebanon and to announce a timetable for the pullout to contain the Lebanese crisis and the international pressure on Syria," the official said.

"He added that Arab governments cannot resist this pressure unless Syrian troops are withdrawn." US-led demands for the implementation of Resolution 1559, passed by the Security Council last September, have intensified since the assassination last month of five-times Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, a Damascus critic, in an attack widely blamed on Syria. -AFP