Lebanon says Syria will start pulling back its forces in Lebanon toward the Bekaa Valley, closer to the border, on Monday. It's the first stage of what Syria says will be a swift two-step withdrawal of its troops.

The Lebanese woke up in their capital Beirut on Sunday morning to the news that Syria would gradually pull out its troops from their country.

Lebanon's outgoing defense minister, Abdul Rahim Mrad, said later in the day that the first troops would start moving as soon as Monday.

He added leaders of the two countries will meet in Damascus ahead of the pullback.

Word of the meeting came as Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah called for a pro-Syrian demonstration in Beirut on Tuesday.

The militant group, based in Lebanon, seeks to establish a fundamentalist Muslim state.

Meanwhile, UN special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen is expected to go to Beirut and Damascus later this week to discuss the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

This resolution was adopted last September at the initiative of the US and France and calls for foreign troops to quit Lebanon completely.

Xinhua

(Source: CCTV.com)