CAIRO, March 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Saturday that he believes Syria's announcement of redeploying its troops in Lebanon would be followed by a full pullout, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

   Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the parliament earlier Saturday that "Syrian troops will completely pull back to Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon and then to the Syrian-Lebanese border."

   Abul Gheit said he is confident that the aim of the Syrian move is the full implementation of the Taif Agreement and the UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

   Under the 1989 Taif Agreement ending Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, Syria should first redeploy its forces to eastern Lebanon and coordinate a subsequent full withdrawal with Beirut.

   The French-US backed UN resolution adopted last September not only urged Damascus to pull out its forces but also asked Syria, a key power broker in Lebanon, to stop meddling in its neighbor's internal affairs.

   Syria has been under mounting pressure to withdraw its 14,000 soldiers from Lebanon since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14.  Enditem