with the task of reconstructing the economy in the south, and rebuilding its links with
the rest of the country. This will help move the whole country to peace and stability.
I also hope that the implementation of Security Council resolution 425 (1978)
will be seen by all the peoples in the region, especially Syrians, Palestinians and Israelis,
as well as Lebanese, as an encouragement to move ahead faster in negotiating peace
treaties based on earlier Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973).
Those resolutions, enshrining the formula of land for peace, form the bedrock on
which the 1991 Madrid formula for achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive peace
in the Middle East was built. I, myself, shall be leaving immediately after this press
conference for the region to meet the leaders there and to see what the United Nations
can do to consolidate and build on today’s achievement.
Finally, let me thank the leaders of Lebanon, Israel and Syria—here I am refer-
ring to President [Emile] Lahoud, Prime Minister [Ehud] Barak and, of course, the
late President Hafez Al-Assad—for the cooperation they have extended to the United
Nations in the past few weeks.
I would also like to thank the Governments of Egypt, Iran, Jordan and Saudi Arabia
for their support, as well as members of the Security Council and, last but not least, my
own special envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, for all they have done to make this day possible.
This is not the end of the long road towards peace in the region, but I hope it
will be seen as the beginning of the end.
SOURCE:United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine, http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/
9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/d04f161eae550bdd85256903004ec856!OpenDocument.Syrian Withdrawal from Lebanon
DOCUMENT IN CONTEXT
Intense international pressure and massive protests in Lebanon following the assassi-
nation of a former prime minister forced Syria to withdraw its army and legions of
intelligence agents from Lebanon in 2005. Syria had first occupied much of Lebanon
in 1976 and for years afterward had seemed prepared to stay indefinitely. Lebanon had
been part of Syria during the centuries of rule by the Ottoman Empire, a history that
constituted part of the Syrian government’s justification for its continuing role there
(Lebanese Civil War, p. 331).
Syria’s occupation of Lebanon did not rise to major international concern until
2003–2005, when a series of events focused attention on it. One event was the U.S.
overthrow of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003. By 2004 the administration of
President George W. Bush was threatening sanctions and even military action against
LEBANON AND SYRIA 359