The US State Department said on Thursday that Lebanon needs an effective government, suggesting that reinstated Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami might not be able to take the lead in ending Syrian domination of his nation.
"Prime Minister Karami said when he resigned the first time that he was resigning because he couldn't be effective," noted deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
"If ever there were a time that Lebanon needed effective government, that time is now," Ereli said.
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, emboldened by a massive pro- Syria demonstration, reinstated Karami as prime minister on Thursday, 10 days after the Damascus-backed leader stepped down under popular and international pressure.
"In our view, the immediate challenge for the new government of Lebanon, and what I think the international community will be looking for, is that it responds to the aspirations of the Lebanese people for freedom and for sovereignty untrammeled by foreign forces," Ereli said.
Specifically, Ereli said, all foreign forces needed to withdraw from Lebanon, and elections should take place "free from intimidation, free from coercion, and that allow the Lebanese people to fully express their views and freely choose their leaders."
Syria has some 14,000 troops in Lebanon. Under the pressure of Lebanese oppositions and the world community, leaders of Syria and Lebanon announced on Monday that Syrian forces will pull back to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley by March 31, but a complete troop withdrawal will be deferred until after later negotiations.
US President George Bush dismissed Syria's plans as a "a half measure." He repeated that Syria must pull out its intelligence officers along with its soldiers before the May