(finally, this will truly show if Anti-Syria protests were all staged by the PNAC, If these do NOT get coverage, then we will know)
Mon Mar 7, 2005 06:48 PM ET
By Nadim Ladki
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Pro-Syrian protesters will take to the streets of Beirut on Tuesday in a show of strength highlighting deep divisions in Lebanon over Syria's role in the country.
Syria, under world pressure to quit its neighbor, promised on Monday to pull back its troops to eastern Lebanon this month under a two-stage withdrawal, but the United States dismissed the plan for failing to set a deadline for a full pullout.
President Bush's administration warned Syrian leaders it would "hold their feet to the fire," and Britain, Germany and Lebanon's former colonial power France also put pressure on Damascus.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed the withdrawal plan in talks with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud in Damascus. Syrian forces intervened in Lebanon's civil war in 1976 and Damascus still has some 14,000 troops in the country.
Tuesday's protest, called by the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah group and its allies to show support for Damascus and oppose what they call Western meddling, was widely expected to attract a large turnout. Shi'ites form Lebanon's largest religious sect.
(more at link)
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