Hundreds of protesters waving Lebanese flags returned to central Beirut on March 1, 2005 to demand Syria quit Lebanon and the United States welcomed what it called moves to restore democracy in Lebanon. Lebanese officials began a search for a new premier after the government of Prime Minister Omar Karami resigned Monday following two weeks of protests, piling more pressure on Damascus, already under fire from the U.S. and Israel. (Reuters Graphic)

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhuanet)-- Syrian President Bashar al-Assadhas said that his country will withdraw its troops from Lebanon ina few months, the Time magazine reported Tuesday.

    "It (withdrawal) should be very soon and maybe in the next few months. Not after that," Bashar told the Time magazine in an interview published on its website on Tuesday.

    Bashar declined to give a definite timetable for the pullout, saying it depended on technical, rather than political, considerations.

    "I could not say we could do it in two months because I have not had the meeting with the army people. They may say it will take six months."

    Bashar made the remarks after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last month, which has resulted in increasing pressure from the international community, urging Damascus to pull troops out of Lebanon.

    Syria plays a dominant role in Lebanon and maintains 14,000 troops there. It said last week that it would begin moving its troops in Lebanon closer to its own border to allay mounting worldand Lebanese calls for Syria to withdraw all its forces from its neighbor.

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