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US: UN statement on Syria "a step forward"
The United States said on Tuesday that the latest United Nations Security Council's statement, which called for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, is "a step forward in the Security Council". "We think itself constitutes a strong action for the council, a strong statement by the council," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a regular news briefing. But it is "only one of many steps that we can take to try to encourage and push for that policy," Boucher added. All 15 council members on Tuesday agreed on a presidential statement, urging Syria to withdraw its remaining 14,000 troops from Lebanon, and calling for reports from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan every six months on its compliance. It was the second time in six weeks that the Security Council, at the demand of the United States and France, demanded that Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon. The council adopted narrowly Resolution 1559 in early September, calling for the withdrawal of all remaining foreign troops from Lebanon and the disbanding all militias in the country. Syrian troops have been in Lebanon for 28 years since Damascus began to deploy its troops in Lebanon in 1976 to help quell a year-old civil war in the country. The Lebanese government has repeatedly said Syria's military presence in its country has been a stabilizing factor since the 1975-90 civil war. Both countries insist that the troops are there under bilateral agreements. |
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