Syria working to keep stealth influence in Lebanon: report
AFP
Date: 03-31-05
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Syria is setting up a secret intelligence operation outside Beirut and is working through its allies in Lebanon to maintain its influence over the country even after it withdraws its troops as demanded by the UN, The Washington Post said.
In defiance of a UN resolution demanding an end to Syria's 29-year control of Lebanon, Damascus is bringing in officials who will not be recognized to staff its hidden presence in Beirut's suburbs, even as it closes its intelligence headquarters in the central part of the city, US, European, UN officials and Lebanon's opposition told the daily.
After the February 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, Syria has come under international pressure to withdraw its 15,000 troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon -- some 4,000 troops have so far returned to Syria.
In view of Syria's reticence in complying with UN Security Council resolution 1559, adopted in September, US and European diplomats have been issuing formal warnings to Assad's government over the past two weeks urging it to abandon all efforts to influence Lebanese politics, the sources told the newspaper.
"What we're trying to do is put as much pressure on Damascus to make clear that any use of the assets it has in Lebanon, residually or otherwise, will not be tolerated -- and to the degree anything bad happens, Syria will be held responsible," said a senior US official involved in Lebanon policy.
Removing all Syrian influence from Lebanon, however, will be more difficult than presumed, since it has mostly been exerted by filling Lebanese institutions with pro-Syrian loyalists, other observers said.
"Syrian influence has permeated most facets of economic, political and social life here with even senior civil positions having to be cleared from Damascus ... Now that the Syrians are withdrawing, to expect that intimate relationship to wither away would be plain naivete," said Timur Goksel, a long-serving former UN adviser in Lebanon now teaching at the American University of Beirut.
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