BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 13 (UPI) -- Lebanese President Emile Lahoud Sunday promised U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen his country will hold free and honest parliamentary elections in May.
An official government statement said during the Beirut meeting, Lahoud also said Lebanon will cooperate with the envoy in his task of supervising implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for a complete Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.
Larsen met several Lebanese officials Sunday, a day after meeting Syrian President Bashar Assad in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. During the Saturday meeting, Roed-Larsen reportedly received a commitment that Syria will fully withdraw from Lebanon in two phases, although no date was set for a total pullout.
Asked whether the Syrian forces would have completely withdrawn from Lebanon before the May election, Lebanese Foreign Minister Hammoud Hammoud told journalists after meeting Larsen the decision will be made during an April 7 meeting between top Syrian and Lebanese military officers.
Lebanon's opposition escalated its demands for a Syrian pullout of its forces and intelligence services after former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination Feb. 14 in Beirut.
