DAMASCUS, Feb 22 (AFP) - Syria lashed out at Washington Tuesday for imposing "double standards" in the Middle East after President George W. Bush called for an end to its military presence in neighbouring Lebanon.
But his call found resonance with dozens of intellectuals, who stuck their necks out in the strictly controlled country to urge Damascus to recall troops from Lebanon in line with a 1989 accord that ended the 1975-1990 civil war.
Bush, whose administration has been ratcheting up the pressure on Damascus since Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri was killed eight days ago, said Monday that Syria must "end its occupation of Lebanon".
He and French President Jacques Chirac later called for the immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, which number about 14,000.
But the Syrian press said Bush's policy was "unbalanced" -- pointing to Israel's continued occupation of Arab land despite numerous UN resolutions.
The Lebanese opposition and the international community have been increasing calls for Syria to leave, with suspicion falling on Damascus over the February 14 killing of Hariri in a massive Beirut bomb blast.
Bush's position "throws light on what is being hatched against Syria and the region," said government newspaper Tishrin. "It demonstrates the American policy of double standards and preconceived ideas."
The paper said it was "illogical" to insist that UN Security Council resolution 1559 be carried out and forget about other resolutions in the Middle East that have not been implemented.
Resolution 1559, sponsored by the United States and France and adopted last September, calls for an end to foreign interference in Lebanon and an end to the presence of foreign troops, in a clear reference to Syria.
"Israel has ignored more than 40 resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council which, once implemented, would wipe out in one strike all the problems of conflict in the Middle East."
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and also occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.
But matching the international pressure, more than 130 intellectuals and members of the Syrian opposition Tuesday petitioned the authorities to implement the Taef Accords and clean up ties with Lebanon.
Lawyer and prominent human rights activist Anwar Bunni and former political prisoner Michel Kilo were among its signatories.
No Syrian official has confirmed comments made by Arab League chief Amr Mussa following talks with President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that Syria was ready to withdraw troops in line with the 1989 Taef Accord which ended the civil war in Lebanon.
Syrian thinkers have regularly warned Damascus that anti-Syrian feeling in Lebanon could endanger what the regime's standing in its neighbour.
In the days following Hariri's murder, Syrian workers were beaten by angry Lebanese and threatened.
But Kilo said the estimated 300,000 Syrians living in Lebanon should not be punished for the policies of their government.
Most Syrians "support brotherly relations between two independent states" with very strong cultural and family ties, he added.
"No national interest, Syrian or Lebanese, is served by maintaining Syrian guardianship and forces in Lebanon," wrote Mohammed Ali Atassi, a Syrian writer living in Lebanon, in the An-Nahar newspaper on Monday.
"A Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, the return of a proper parliamentary life in this country and democratic reform in Syria," are the best means to handle Israeli threats and cleanse Lebanese-Syrian relations, he added.
Syria first sent its forces into Lebanon a year after the outbreak of the war and troop numbers reached a peak of 35,000 before Damascus began a series of partial withdrawals.
02/22/2005 15:14 GMT - AFP