¡¡WASHINGTON, March 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States on Monday reacted cautiously to announcement that Syria will pull back its troops to the eastern part of Lebanon and complete troop withdrawal soon.

    Until Syrian forces and intelligence agents are out of Lebanon,a full withdrawal under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution "is not respected," deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

    US insists that Syria adhere to last September's UN Security Council resolution 1559, which calls for the removal of the Syriantroops, and for Damascus to allow free and fair elections in Lebanon.

    Top leaders of Syria and Lebanon announced Monday that Syrian troops will pull back to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley by March 31, but a complete troop withdrawal will be deferred until after later negotiations.

    The announcement, made after a meeting between Syrian PresidentBashar Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, said Syrian troops will pull back from northern and central Lebanon to the east, near Syria's border.

    Syria's ambassador to the United States said here Monday that Damascus will withdraw its troops to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley in a few weeks. A full troop withdrawal will come in "less than two or three months," ambassador Imad Moustapha told CNN.

    "We will withdraw all our troops" from Lebanon, to "Syria proper," he said.

    The pullback is expected to be the biggest single such move since Syrian forces intervened in Lebanon's civil war in 1976. It now has some 14,000 troops there, down from 40,000. Enditem