Lebanese Information Minister Elie Ferzli said Monday that there is a probability that Syrian troops might withdraw from Lebanon and Lebanese officials should take this option into consideration in view of the critical and sensitive stage the Middle East is passing through, An Nahar reported Tuesday. "It might or might not happen because Syria and Lebanon are bonded in ties and agreements that provide for cooperation. However, regional and international circumstances are very important," Ferzli said during a meeting with a delegation representing the Journalists' Association headed by Melhem Karam.

Ferzli said he would be glad if all the Lebanese agreed on UN Security Council resolution 1559. Commenting on the massive demonstration scheduled for today and organized by leftist and national parties in condemnation of resolution 1559 and in support of the Syrian-backed regime of President Emile Lahoud, Ferzli said it should be "the demonstration of the two or three million". "We are expecting the Lebanese of all segments to march hand in hand to confront one issue, which is protecting Lebanon from being the center of international and regional conflicts. Earlier, Prime Minister Omar Karami dubbed the protest, the demonstration of the one million.

"When Omar Karami mentioned the one million, he was referring to the demonstration's popularity, and not to the number," Ferzli said. The information minister said he supported the objectives of this demonstration. Ferzli said the government's position is clear, it wants to exclude Lebanon from the circle of international and regional conflict, which will naturally lead to more divisions and spur sedition in the country. Ferzli called for correcting Lebanese-Syrian ties on the basis of confidence and honest dialogue. The minister asked why should the defense of Lebanese-Syrian ties be considered an accusation of treachery?

According to Ferzli, resolution 1559, which calls on Syria to pull out its estimated 15,000 troops from Lebanon and stop meddling in the country's domestic affairs, had been orchestrated by the international community which was going to pass it sooner or later. The issue of amending the constitution, Ferzli added, was an excuse to implement the resolution.

On Hamadeh

Regarding the remarks made by Druze Chieftain and head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblat in which he accused the government's security agencies of orchestrating October's assassination attempt against MP Marwan Hamadeh, Ferzli said he sees in Jumblat's comments an incentive to further speed up investigation into the case to reveal the perpetrators.