Bush: 'Elections on Schedule, Hizbullah Disarmed, Syria out Completely'
Bush pledged, then, to drum up global monetary assistance to help "this country back on its feet."
In a rare direct address to the Arab world, Bush also said in an interview broadcast by Beirut's LBCI television network from the White House he wanted the Assad regime to shut down Hizbullah's office in Syria, asserting the Party of God should disarm in Lebanon.
"The United States can join with the rest of the world, like we've done, and say to Syria, get out -- not only get out with your military forces, but get out with your intelligence services, too; get completely out of Lebanon, so Lebanon can be free and the people can be free," Bush said in the 10-minute interview.
The Syrian withdrawal should include people who "have been embedded in parts of government" to allow Lebanese -- "not another government, not agents of another government" --to decide the country's fate, he said.
Bush's interview, with Arabic subtitles, was aired late Tuesday. A transcript was provided by the White House press office. It grabbed page-one banner-lines in the Beirut press on Wednesday.
The election "ought to be as scheduled. And the elections need to be free and fair, without interference," Bush said, adding that international monitors should oversee the balloting.
Bush said the Lebanese "are tired of living under a government which, in essence, was a foreign occupation." Syria's military presence, the key to its domination of the country, began in 1976 when Syrian forces entered the country to stop a civil war that lasted another 14 years.
The demands for Syria to leave Lebanon sharply rose after the Feb. 14 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, which sparked mass anti-Syrian protests across Lebanon.
Bush declared U.S. support for this debt-ridden country, promising to help Lebanon's "new democracy succeed" by working closely with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other international organizations as well as the European Union "to help this country get back on its feet after occupation."
"There will be plenty of help," he said, adding that such actions could only be taken "once Lebanon is a democracy and the parliamentary elections are held on schedule."
Bush said he will continue to work with the international community to keep the pressure on Hizbullah, which he called a "dangerous organization."
"But ultimately, the people of Lebanon are going to decide the fate of the country ... And you can't have a free country if a group of people are like an armed militia," he said.
He said the U.S. would be willing to help if Lebanon cannot disarm Hizbullah or the Party of God refused to disarm, adding "not every free society is capable of internal security right off the bat."
Bush said the U.S. placed Hizbullah on the terrorist list because "they've killed Americans in the past." He said the group was "trying to destabilize" the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Hizbullah was blamed for anti-American attacks in the early 1980s in Lebanon, including the bombings of a U.S. Marine barracks and two U.S. Embassy compounds in Beirut. The attacks, which killed about 270 Americans, were claimed by pro-Iranian Shiite militants during the civil war.
For Syria to improve relations with Washington Damascus must leave Lebanon and stop supporting Baathists in Iraq -- "stop those people in Syria who are funneling money and helping smuggle people and arms into Iraq," Bush said.
He expressed hope that diplomatic pressure on Syria would make Damascus change course, apparently ruling out military action.
"We're just beginning. And, obviously, diplomacy is the first course of action. And we hope -- I think diplomacy will work."(Naharnet-LBCI-AP-AFP
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