A 62-vehicle convoy carrying Syrian troops and equipment withdrawn from northern Lebanon crossed the border early Saturday in a heavy snow as Syrians at the frontier welcomed the troops home, throwing flowers and chanting, "We love Syria". The convoy crossed the border at Jedeidet Yabous, 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Damascus and 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Beirut, the Lebanese capital. Syria this week began pulling its 14,000 forces back to the eastern Bekaa Valley. It is to negotiate with the government on their complete withdrawal from Lebanon later. U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said Friday the United Nations expects Assad to produce a timetable for the full withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence officers from Lebanon. Speaking in Amman, where he sought Jordanian support for U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 on Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon, Roed-Larsen indicated he was optimistic about his meeting with the Syrian president in Damascus on Saturday. "I expect that we will get the commitment and timetables for the full implementation of 1559," Roed-Larsen told reporters. The U.N. Security Council is to receive a report next month from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, based on Roed-Larsen's visit, on Syria's implementation of the resolution.
