Israel sees peace with Lebanon after Syria exit
Reuters
Date: 03-05-05
By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel sees the prospect of making peace with Lebanon after Syria withdraws all troops from their shared neighbour, but said Damascus' pledge on Saturday to redeploy troops fell short of world demands for a total pullout.
Israeli leaders dismissed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's announcement he would gradually pull soldiers out of Lebanon and by doing so fulfil a United Nations resolution for a complete withdrawal.
"Only full implementation of (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1559 which means a full withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon can mean full implementation," of the resolution, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told reporters in Tel Aviv.
Israel's Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Assad's statement "constituted an evasion" of U.N. demands.
Yet Shalom said Assad's remarks in Damascus showed the prospect of a total Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon "is more tangible than ever".
Both he and Peres said that without Syrian troops in its midst, Lebanon may negotiate peace with Israel. Israel now has peace agreements with just two Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan.
A Syrian pullout could "perhaps in the foreseeable future lead the (Lebanese) people and country to greater understanding and perhaps even peace with Israel," Shalom said.
Israel ended a 22-year-occupation in southern Lebanon by withdrawing troops in May 2000. They had entered the region to fight and expel Palestinian guerrillas.
Since then Israel has sought Lebanese efforts to curb cross-border attacks by Syrian and Iranian-backed Hizbollah gunmen based in Lebanon.
Hizbollah has denied Israeli accusations that its members have supported some Palestinian militants in their uprising from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Another dispute lingers between Israel and Lebanon over a small border enclave called the Shebaa Farms.
Israel had lately launched a diplomatic offensive accusing Syria of playing a role in a Feb. 25 Palestinian suicide bombing that killed five Israelis at a Tel Aviv nightclub and disrupted a fragile ceasefire.
In his speech, Assad said he did not expect peace with Israel anytime soon but would continue to try.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has recently said he would not resume talks with Syria that broke off in 2000 before its troops left Lebanon.
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