Syrian troops leave Lebanon for good

After 29 years of occupying Lebanon, an official send off will take place in the Bekaa Valley, Tuesday, for the last of the Syrian troops leaving the country marking a new era. Senior intelligence officials will attend the ceremony as a final farewell to the Syrian troops. Lebanon's pro-Syrian security chief Jamil Sayyed quit at weekend after Syria made it's final push over the weekend to remove the remaining soldiers.A security council resolution adopted last September called for the pullout of all foreign forces from Lebanon. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has dispatched a team to verify that Syria's withdrawal of troops is complete.Opposition MP Marwan Hamadeh told the press that this was the beginning of a new era for both countries based on a mutual respect for each other.The Lebanese press reported: A few hours from now, and a new era will start in Lebanon, the French-language L'Orient-Le-Jour newspaper wrote.Pro-Syrian press had a different response: It is a miserable day of an end of an era on different fronts -- political, economic, cultural, educational, military and security, As-Safir wrote.Â