WORLD IN BRIEF : LEBANON : Secret Syrian Pledge to Pull Out Reported

Syria gave Saudi Arabia and other Arab states an unpublicized written pledge to negotiate a timetable for withdrawing all of its 40,000 troops from Lebanon as part of an overall political accord reached with legislators of that country last October, the Washington Post reported. The diplomatic sources quoted by the Post said the document reflects what is already publicly stated in the Taif accords: that within two years of the formation of a “national unity” government and the initiation of political reforms, Syria will redeploy its troops from Beirut to the western Bekaa Valley and then negotiate with the new government on a timetable for a full withdrawal from Lebanon.