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President Bush delivered his most direct message
yet to the government in Damascus, backing-up demands by U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleeza Rice and French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.
"I applauded the press conference she held with the foreign minister
from France where both of them stood up and said loud and clear to Syria:
You get your troops and your secret services out of Lebanon so that good
democracy has a chance to flourish," Mr. Bush said.
President Bush, in remarks at a college in the state of Maryland, said
the world is working together for the sake of freedom and peace in the
Middle East and is speaking with one voice to make sure democracy takes
hold in the region.
President Bush has said Syria is out of
step with moves toward democracy in the Middle East.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan says Syria knows what it needs to
do to change its behavior and become a constructive member of the region
and of the international community.
He says the Bush administration continues to have concerns about
members of the former Iraqi regime operating across the border in Syria.
Mr. McClellan says Washington is also concerned about Syria's ongoing
support for terrorism, including the most recent bombing in Tel Aviv. He
says the Bush administration has firm evidence that the violence was
planned by Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus.
Syria has had troops across the border in Lebanon since 1976, shortly
after the start of the country's civil war.
Some 14,000 Syrian military and intelligence personnel are thought to
be in Lebanon. Pressure for their withdrawal has grown since the
assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister sparked street
demonstrations which this week led to the resignation of a pro-Syrian
government in Beirut. | 
