ASSAD PLEDGES PULLOUT; NO TIMETABLE

NICOSIA [MENL] -- President Bashar Assad has pledged to move Syrian troops from central and northern Lebanon to that country's border with Syria.

But Assad neither announced a timetable for withdrawal nor clarify whether Syrian troops would return to their country.

"As an extension of measures already taken, we will withdraw our forces stationed in Lebanon to the Bekaa Valley and then to the border," Assad told parliament on Saturday.

Assad said Lebanese and Syrian leaders would meet this week to approve the withdrawal plan. He said his plan would fulfill United Nations Security Council and Arab League resolutions for a Syrian military pullout from Lebanon.