Friday, March 04, 2005


Bush rejects any partial withdrawal by Syria
..."Syria, Syrian troops, Syria's intelligence services, must get out of Lebanon now," the president said.

"The world is beginning to speak with one voice. We want that democracy in Lebanon to succeed, and we know it cannot succeed so long as she is occupied by a foreign power and that power is Syria," Bush said.

Bush told the New York Post in an interview published Friday that he wants Syria's longtime presence in Lebanon and influence on its political affairs ended by May.

McClellan said that deadline was pegged to the parliamentary elections planned for a new government in Lebanon.

"We want to make sure those are free and fair elections without outside interference," McClellan said.