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LEBANESE MILITARY CAN'T REPLACE SYRIA

NICOSIA [MENL] -- Lebanon's military was said to be incapable of providing national defense.

Officials said the Lebanese military could not fill the void left by the withdrawal of the Syrian Army. They said the Lebanese military was too inexperienced and ill-equipped to provide either external defense or internal security. Beirut has been rocked by three bombings in a period of eight days.

"The forces of the Lebanese army are not sufficient to permanently replace the Syrians who might leave the Bekaa Valley where they are now concentrated," Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Murad said.

About 4,000 of the 14,000 Syrian soldiers in Lebanon have left for home. Officials said about 1,000 soldiers left the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon for Syria over the weekend. Syrian President Bashar Assad has pledged to complete the military withdrawal from Lebanon within several months.

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