DAMASCUS (Reuter) -
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In an apparent effort to avoid offending Assad, French President Chirac did not repeat
past calls for full independence and sovereignty for Lebanon at their
joint news conference.
The Syrian leader said they had discussed Lebanon, a former French protectorate, at
length in their talks and he defended the presence of some 35,000 Syrian troops there
with a long lecture on how his country rescued Lebanon from civil war.