By Nadim Ladki  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's pro-Syrian parliament speaker promised on Wednesday that elections, the first without a Syrian military presence for 33 years, would start on May 29.  Nabih Berri's announcement, a day after Syria pulled its last soldiers and spies out of Lebanon after 29 years, means the parliamentary elections will be held on time as demanded by the international community and Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition. "I can confirm to the Lebanese that the elections will happen beginning on May 29," Berri told reporters. He was speaking even before Prime Minister Najib Mikati's new government had won a vote of confidence in parliament, a hurdle expected to be surmounted later in the day. Mikati is a wealthy businessman with close ties to Damascus.

Written by Yakoub El Khazen      Patriarch Toubia Kaiss El Khazen of Bekaata Kanaan           He is …

By Lin Noueihed  RIYYAK, Lebanon (Reuters) - Syria withdrew its last soldiers and intelligence agents from Lebanon Tuesday, ending a 29-year military presence in its small neighbor. s the Syrian troops crossed the frontier in green buses, many Lebanese hailed their departure as the start of a new era, but analysts said Damascus would remain influential. "With the completion of the Syrian forces' withdrawal from Lebanon, a new political era in the relations between the two brethren countries starts based on close cooperation in all fields," Lebanon's new Prime Minister Najib Mikati said. Syria told the United Nations it had completed its pullout from Lebanon in line with Security Council resolution 1559.

By Lin Noueihed  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's most powerful pro-Syrian security chief resigned on Monday, hours before the last Syrian forces were due to leave their tiny neighbor and end Damascus' 29-year domination.  The resignation of Jamil al-Sayyed, head of the General Security, signaled the collapse of the Syrian-installed security apparatus that had effectively run Lebanon for years. "Security chiefs are usually appointed with politics and change when it changes," Sayyed said in his resignation letter. Sayyed said last week he was ready to step aside during a U.N.-ordered international investigation into the Feb. 14 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, which sparked angry protests against the Syrians many blamed.