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March 2,2005 U.S. and France Join to Urge Syria to Pull Out of

By JOEL BRINKLEY and ALAN COWELL

ONDON, March 1 -The United States and France together called on Syria on Tuesday to withdraw L its troops from Lebanon, just a day after the pro-Syrian government of Lebanon collapsed under popular pressure.

In a joint appearance before reporters, Secretary of State and Michel Barnier, the French foreign minister, who are here for a one-day conference on supporting the Palestinian Authority, demanded the "immediate withdrawal of all Syrian military and intelligence forces from Lebanon."

"There cannot be any pretexts, any excuses not to carry it out," Mr. Barnier insisted, while promising that France and the United States would seek ways to guarantee Lebanon's security and independence.

Ms. Rice said that Washington would support sending international observers for Lebanon's elections in May and that sending international peacekeepers to take the place of departing Syrian forces was under consideration.

"Events in Lebanon are moving in a very important direction," Ms. Rice said. "I think we have to look at what can be done in terms of helping them to stabilize the situation should that become necessary."

A senior administration official added, "Realizing how difficult it will be for the Lebanese government to extend its authority over the whole country" once the Syrian troops leave, "we will look at a range of things we can do to help them."

The joint news conference might have seemed unlikely just a few months ago, given the angry words between France and the Bush administration over the war in .

But in Lebanon and in the search for peace in the Middle East, the United States and France have found two areas of mutual concern and agreement - though Mr. Barnier repeated France's call for an international conference on the Middle East, an idea the Bush administration opposes.

Prime Minister Tony Blair had called for the gathering here of leaders from more than 20 European and Arab countries and international institutions to support the new Palestinian leadership, led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

But the continuing turmoil in Lebanon overshadowed the meeting. Ms. Rice also discussed Lebanon with Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general. She said the two discussed "the need to make certain" that Syria withdrew from Lebanon, among other issues;

The conference also came just four days after a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv killed five Israelis, an attack that threatened to undermine a truce that has held since Feb. 8. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/02/intemational/middleeast/02rice.html?pagewanted=p... 02/03/2005 The, New York Times > International > Middle East > U.S. and France Join to Urge Syria... Page 2 of 3

Meeting here alongside the conference, members of the so-called quartet overseeing Middle East peace - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - issued a strongly worded statement demanding "immediate action" by the Palestinian Authority to "apprehend and bring to justice the perpetrators" of the Tel Aviv attack. The statement also called for "further sustained activity by the Palestinian authority to prevent acts of terrorism."

Syria maintains about 14,000 troops in Lebanon but has promised repeatedly over the years to withdraw them. In an interview with Time magazine published Tuesday, Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, restated his vow of last week that he would pull his troops out in "the next few months."

Iniad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, said in a recent interview that military intelligence officers were the only Syrian intelligence personnel in Lebanon, and that they would be withdrawn along with the rest of the military. But American officials said they were dubious that military officers were the only Syrian intelligence officers in Lebanon, suggesting that the issue might be a point of contention even if the Syrians withdraw.

Ms. Rice, in a second news conference on Tuesday evening, pointedly noted that Syrian "security services" must leave Lebanon.

Ms. Rice and Mr. Barnier reiterated calls for a "full, credible and transparent investigation" into the assassination two weeks ago of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister, a killing that the Lebanese opposition attributes to Syria. The assassination ignited daily protests in Beirut by tens of thousands of people calling for a Syrian withdrawal, leading in turn on Monday to the resignation of Lebanon's pro- Syrian prime minister and his cabinet.

At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon in London, President Abbas said the Palestinian Authority had taken a "series of steps to find out who planned and financed the attack" in Tel Aviv on Friday but rebutted Israeli allegations that Syria was behind it. "I am confident that the Syrians believe in the peace process," he said.

But in Washington, the Bush administration continued to insist that Syria was involved, if only by offering refuge to the terrorist groups that have claimed responsibility for the attack. The White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said, "We do have firm evidence that the bombing in Tel Aviv was not only authorized by Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus, but that Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus participated in the planning."

In an interview with the BBC, Mr. Abbas complained that Israeli control of access routes in the was hampering the investigation. But he said some suspects had been "incarcerated."

Israel did not attend the London gathering.

In a final 17-page statement, the conference listed practical steps to clean up corruption, enhance economic growth and unify the security services that proliferated under Yasir Arafat, Mr. Abbas's predecessor, who died in November.

The measures include formation of a United States-led coordinating group under Lt. Gen. William E. Ward to assist in retraining Palestinian security services, coordinating with and operating "in region and between capitals," according to the statement. Ms. Rice, Mr. Blair, participants at the conference and representatives of the "quartet" all stressed that an eventual Middle East settlement should provide for a viable and "contiguous" Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution. The word http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/02/international/middleeast/02rice.html?pagewanted=p... 02/03/2005 > International > Middle East > U.S. and France Join to Urge Syria... Page 3 of 3

contiguous is intended to address Palestinian concerns that Israel might try to break up the West Bank into what Palestinians call cantons, small islands of Palestinian control.

The conference document also urged unspecified "action by Israel" to fulfill its commitments under the peace plan. Responding to a questioner who asked whether the conference had put pressure only on the Palestinian side, Mr. Blair said, "None of this obviates the need for Israel to live up to its own obligations."

The conference produced no specific commitment of increased financial aid for the Palestinians, although there was a call for money to meet "urgent short-term financing needs."

Palestinians officials have said they are seeking $1.5 billion in aid over the next three years. Current international aid to the Palestinian Authority is reportedly about $1 billion a year, about 60 percent of its budget.

JoelBrinkley reported from London for this article and Alan Cowellfrom .

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