DAMASCUS, March 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria denied reports that differences arose between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz over Lebanon, the official Syria Times newspaper reported Friday.

   The paper was referring to a Reuters report that quoted a Saudi official as saying that during talks in Riyadh, capital of the Saudi kingdom, Saudi Arabia told Damascus to leave Lebanon, otherwise bilateral ties would suffer setbacks.

   "Abdullah told Assad that 'Syria must start withdrawing soon, otherwise Saudi-Syrian relations will go through difficulties,'" the official was quoted as saying.

   Terming the Reuters news as "baseless", Syria Times said "the non-mentioning of the Saudi official's name indicates the
incredibility of the content of the news story."

   "The Saudi News Agency confirmed this fact, ... saying the talks were conducted in a very cordial atmosphere," the paper added.

   Syria has been under mounting international pressure to withdraw its 14,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon, particularly after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri last month.

   Lebanon's opposition blamed Syria for Hariri's death and organized mass protest that toppled Beirut's pro-Syrian government this week. Damascus denied any involvement.

   Assad will deliver a speech in the parliament "on current political developments" on Saturday, the official SANA news agency said, without giving further details.

   The United States has repeated its demand for a Syrian pullout, and Germany and Britain were the latest to join a call for implementation of UN resolution 1559, which was adopted last September calling on foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon.

   Russia, long one of Syria's best friends, also said the troops should go.

   "Syria should withdraw from Lebanon, but we all have to make sure that this withdrawal does not violate the very fragile balance which we still have in Lebanon, which is a very difficult country ethnically," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

   However, Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Thursday refrained from adding pressure on Syria, saying they were opting for quiet diplomacy by individual Arab states.  Enditem