Israel Seeks Support for Lebanon Pullout
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By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM - Israel's foreign minister said Sunday he would try to rally
international support for a full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon when he travels
to Washington this week.



On Saturday, Syrian President Bashar Assad announced a two-stage pullback of his
forces to the Lebanese border, but failed to address calls to withdraw
completely. U.S. and French officials criticized Assad's pledges as
insufficient.


Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said a Syrian withdrawal would help promote
stability and peace efforts in the Middle East.


"The purpose is to act to get Syrian troops out of Lebanon, include Hezbollah on
the list of terror organizations, dismantle their terror infrastructure," he
told
Israel Radio.


"I think those things could also contribute to another of our objectives -
progress on the Palestinian front," he said. "If we do both simultaneously, it
would contribute much more to the stability of the Mideast, and the possibility
of us conducting a dialogue with many more Arab and Islamic countries."


Shalom, who was to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National
Security Adviser Stephen Hadley during this week's trip, said he would raise the
issue of Lebanon.


Israel accuses Syria of harboring Palestinian militant groups and providing
support to the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah. It has asked the European
Union to place Hezbollah on the European list of terrorist organizations.
Hezbollah already is on the U.S. State Department lists of terrorist groups.


Syria has come under growing international pressure to withdraw its 15,000
troops
in Lebanon since the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri. Many Lebanese blamed the killing on the pro-Syrian Lebanese
government and its Syrian backers - a charge the government and Syria denied.


Shalom, speaking at a joint news conference Saturday with Jordanian Foreign
Minister Hani al-Mulqi, dismissed Assad's speech as failing to meet a U.N.
resolution calling for a "a complete withdrawal of all Syrian troops from
Lebanon."


Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year
occupation, and officials now believe that Syrian pressure is the only thing
preventing Lebanon from joining Egypt and Jordan in making peace with Israel.


"Syria does not have a strong army, but it has a big appetite," Israeli Vice
Premier Shimon Peres said Sunday. "They are in Lebanon more because of economic
reasons than because of military reasons. Lebanon can be the next candidate for
peace."


The Jordanian minister also called on Syria to withdraw. "Implementation of the
resolution should result in a stronger Lebanon and a Lebanon that is undivided,"
al-Mulqi said Saturday.


Al-Mulqi is making the first visit to Israel by a Jordanian foreign minister in
more than four years.


Amman withdrew its ambassador shortly after the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian
violence in late 2000. Jordan's ambassador recently returned its ambassador
after
a Feb. 8 Mideast summit where Israel and the Palestinians called for an end to
the violence.


In a sign of the warming ties, al-Mulqi invited Shalom to visit Jordan. Mark
Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the trip would likely
take place in the next two or three weeks.


"We come here today after four years of boycott, but we come back on a very
strong basis of understanding in order to strengthen our bilateral contacts,"
al-Mulqi said Sunday after meeting Peres.


Al-Mulqi was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other top
Israeli officials later Sunday.





Al-Mulqi is expected to raise Jordan's position on final status issues in the
Arab-Israeli peace process such as borders, Palestinian refugees, the holy city
of Jerusalem and water resources. Al-Mulqi said he will also demand the release
of some 25 Jordanian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Sharon's office, meanwhile, confirmed the Israeli leader will travel to
Washington next month for talks with President Bush. A spokesman declined to
confirm a report in the Haaretz daily that the meeting would take place on April
12.

Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas both accepted invitations to the
White House from the U.S. secretary of state when she visited the region last
month.




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