Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wants Syria to withdraw completely from Lebanon, and will not be satisfied with only a partial pullout.

Sharon sees a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon as a positive step from Israel's point of view, but adds that if Syria were to withdraw only a portion of its forces, or leave intelligence units stationed in Lebanon, this would not meet international demands.

Sharon was commenting on an announcement Saturday by Syrian President Bashar Assad that Syria would move its troops to the Lebanese-Syrian border in a two-step pullback that he said should satisfy international demands for a complete pullout.

It was not clear whether Assad, who was addressing the Syrian parliament, meant he would keep some troops within Lebanon's border, and one Lebanese opposition leader suggested the president was "playing on words."

"We will withdraw our forces stationed in Lebanon fully to the Bekaa region and later to the Lebanese-Syrian border areas," Assad said in a carefully worded address.

"By carrying out this measure, Syria will have fulfilled requirements of the Taif agreement and implemented United Nations Resolution 1559," he added, noting that he said he had agreed with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to hold a meeting of the Syrian-Lebanese leaderships this week to approve the withdrawal plan.

The 1989 Arab-brokered Taif Accord calls for Syria to move its troops to the Lebanese border and for both countries to then negotiate the withdrawal. The UN resolution, drafted by the United States and France in September, called on Syria to withdraw its forces, stop influencing politics in the country and allow Lebanon to hold presidential elections as scheduled.

Assad called it a "gradual and organized withdrawal" and said Syria has "an interest" in withdrawing from Lebanon.

Assad made no mention of Syrian intelligence offices, a source of discontent for many Lebanese who have complained about their involvement in the country's politics.

Referring to weeks of increasing international demands against Damascus, Assad said there has been a "concentrated attack against Syria to show it was clinging to stay in Lebanon and as if it was withdrawing under pressure."

Lebanon's president praised Assad's speech, saying his country would not forget Syria's "sacrifices."

But in Beirut's Martyrs' Square, about 1,000 Lebanese watching the speech on large screens seemed unfazed by Assad's words. Waving Lebanese flags, they continued the chants they have shouted in weeks of demonstrations: "Syria out!" and other anti-Damascus slogans.

Prominent Lebanese leader Walid Jumblatt was cautious about the speech. "I think when President Assad spoke in front of the Syrian and Lebanese peoples and in front of the world, saying that he will withdraw his troops, I think he was playing on words," he told Al Jazeera satellite channel from Saudi Arabia. "In all cases, we shall see. We shall monitor the implementation."

He told Lebanon's LBC television, though, that some elements in the speech offered "a new vision" for Lebanese-Syrian relations.

Vice premier Shimon Peres, called early Saturday for beginning peace talks between Israel and Lebanon following a Syrian withdrawal. "If Syria pulls out of Lebanon completely, it will be possible to embark on diplomatic steps toward an agreement in light of the fact that we have no demands concerning its land or waters," Peres said.

Commenting later on Assad's speech, Peres defined it as evasive, charging that it did not meet UN Security Council demands for a full withdrawal and an immediate end to the occupation of Lebanon.

Israel sees the possibility of making peace with Lebanon once it becomes independent of Syrian military occupation, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom commented Saturday. Shalom told reporters that Syria's pledge to begin a gradual withdrawal from Lebanon was not enough but showed a total Syrian pullout from its neighbor "is more tangible than ever."

Israeli officials also dismissed comments by Assad blaming Israel for the deadlock in Israeli-Syrian peace talks.

"Israel is ready for good faith negotiations with Syria but it is impossible to have good faith negotiations as long as the Syrians allow the orders for suicide bombings against Israeli citizens to be given from Damascus," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

U.S. President George W. Bush demanded Saturday that Syria withdraw completely from Lebanon and denounced Damascus' "support for terrorism" as a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

Bush, in his weekly radio address, rejected Syrian plans for a partial pullout of troops, saying the UN Security Council resolution demanded that "all foreign forces be withdrawn."

The radio address was taped prior to Assad's speech to the Syrian parliament.