Syria was set to wrap up the withdrawal of its troops from Beirut and its surroundings yesterday, easing decades of tight control that was bitterly resented by Lebanese Christians.

With this partial withdrawal, Syria will change its military profile in neighbouring Lebanon, where it also wields strong political leverage. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was quoted as saying the operation reflected Syria's conviction that it should organise its relations with Lebanon.

"There is a civil society with particular characteristics in Lebanon, and Syria has to organise its relations with Lebanon in this light," Assad was quoted as saying in his first reported comment on the move.

The comment was reported by an Arab member of the Israeli parliament, Azmi Bishara, in an interview aired by Lebanon's privately-owned LBC television. A Lebanese security official told Reuters the redeployment should be completed "in the next hours." He said the Lebanese army wouldl take over some "sensitive security" positions.

After years of being part of the city's scene, Syrian troops have been abandoning bases and leaving Beirut and surrounding hilltop positions since Thursday. The redeployment follows a long Maronite Christian campaign, orchestrated by Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, against the continued presence of 35,000 Syrian troops who poured into Lebanon after the outbreak of the country's 1975-1990 civil war. The move is also the fruit of months of dialogue between Lebanese and Syrian authorities.

While some analysts said the Beirut pullout was a response to increased Christian and Muslim demands, others insist it was also a defensive measure after repeated Israeli threats and reprisal attacks against Syrian forces in Lebanon.

In April, Israeli planes attacked a Syrian radar base in Lebanon, killing three Syrian soldiers in reprisal for an ambush against Israeli troops by Syrian-backed Hizbollah. But the redeployment of Syrian forces is far from the full withdrawal demanded by some Christian leaders.

Security officials said Syria would most likely keep the bulk of its troops in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa valley and would only consider a full withdrawal when a final peace agreement was reached between Lebanon, Syria and Israel.

Lebanese and Syrian officials avoided any reference that might suggest that the move was to conform with the Taif peace accord, which ended the 15-year civil war and stipulated a Syrian military redeployment.

Syrian troops first moved out of Christian neighbourhoods. On Sunday and early yesterday they left more positions in the mainly Muslim part of Beirut, in the seaside areas of Ramlet Al Baida, Raouche, Ain Mreisse and the Shi'ite southern suburbs.

Witnesses said dozens of Syrian tanks had crossed Lebanon's eastern border and returned to Syria at the weekend, but it was not clear how many troops would actually leave the country.

Patriarch Sfeir, the most vocal critic of Syria's domination of Lebanon, called the redeployment a "first step on a 1,000-mile trek" towards a balanced relationship between the two countries.

"I hope officials in Lebanon and Syria will follow up on this step to reach a point that guarantees the interests of both countries to handle their own affairs without interference," he said in his Sunday sermon.