UN says satisfied with Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon

British UN Colonel Ian Sinclair (L), one of the nine-member UN team charged with verifying Syria's troop withdrawal from Lebanon, looks at a map with an unidentified Lebanese officers Wednesday and a former Syrian intelligence office in Zahle in the Bekaa valley. The UN team verifying Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon said yesterday that it was "satisfied" with the mission so far. PHOTO: AFP

Brigadier General Elhadji Mouhamadou Kandji of Senegal, the deputy military advisor for UN peacekeeping operations, told AFP his team has "not encountered a single Syrian soldier".

But as the team approached the border village of Qoussaya, where the pro-Syrian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command still maintains positions, shooting was heard by journalists who were not allowed to proceed with the team.

The PFLP-GC later said the "shooting was not intended at preventing the investigators from inspecting the positions in Qoussaya."

"The UN team did not alert our command of their visit, which disrupted coordination with the personnel in charge of the base of Qoussaya, and provoked a minor misunderstanding," Abu Anwar, PFLP-GC leader in Lebanon told AFP.

"The inspectors of the United Nations are welcome," Abu Anwar added.

Syria, facing relentless international pressure, said last week it had completed its pullout from Lebanon after 29 years of military domination.

The UN team arrived in Lebanon on Monday to verify the withdrawal on the ground and "will stay as long as we need to," said Kandji.

Finnish commander Kari Olavi Makinen said the team had already inspected areas in northern Lebanon, Tripoli and the Beirut area.

"It (the mission) will take more than a week. If we are not satisfied, we'll come back," he added.