Syrian President Bashar Assad is expected to announce partial troops pullout from neighboring Lebanon in a speech to parliament on Saturday afternoon, al-Jazeera reported on Friday.

The move was expected to include withdrawal of part of the 14,000 troops from Lebanon and redeployment of some to areas closer to the Syrian border, a Lebanese official source said.

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

Syria has indicated recently it would conduct the pullout under the Taif agreement, which, signed between Damascus and various Lebanese groups in 1989 and virtually putting an end to Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, outlined a gradual pullout of Syrian forces from Lebanon.

Syria has been under mounting international pressures to withdraw the troops deployed in Lebanon after civil war erupted in 1975 in the country after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on Feb. 14.

Lebanon's opposition accused Syria of involvement in the case, to which Damascus denied vehemently.

Public mourning of Hariri, a major architect of Lebanon's postwar revival and opponent to Syria's influence, turned into mass protest that toppled Beirut's pro-Syrian government this week.

The United States has spearheaded efforts to lead a call for the Syrian pullout, and Germany and Britain were the latest to join the camp.

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

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.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2005)