WASHINGTON, March 2 (UPI) -- U.S. officials said Wednesday they don't believe Syria will keep its pledge to withdraw from Lebanon.
Top U.S. diplomats also warned that any election after a Syrian pullout might lead to gains for the militant Hezbollah movement.
The comments by David Satterfield, acting assistant secretary of State for Near East Affairs to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Foreign Assistance Programs for the Near East, follow two weeks of increased U.S. pressure on Syria to withdraw some 14,000 troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon.
Syrian troops entered the country in 1976 to provide stability during Lebanon's civil war, which ended in 1990 but the Syrians never withdrew their troops although under an agreement signed in 1989 they were required to do so in two years.
Damascus was also able to use the 22-year Israeli occupation of Lebanon, which ended in May 2000, as a reason to stay.
Since Feb. 14 when former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an opponent of the Syrian presence, was killed, there have been almost daily street protests in Lebanon seeking Syria's withdrawal and on Monday the country's pro-Damascus government resigned.
