US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday that Syria's pledge to pull its troops from Lebanon was "positive," but said Washington will continue to press Damascus to comply with a UN resolution calling for a full withdrawal.
"Obviously there are some positive elements to this. It is positive that Syria would begin to withdraw its forces out of Lebanon, not just to the border," Rice told ABC television.
"But we are going to continue to press for full compliance with resolution 1559."
Special UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen on Saturday disclosed after a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the Syrian leader has now agreed to fulfill the terms of the resolution and to withdraw his military and intelligence units.
"The key here is to remove from Lebanon the artificial impact of Syrian forces and Syrian intelligence officers," Rice said. "And I would note too that Mr. Larsen apparently got a pledge that this would include intelligence forces and that's very important."
President George W. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said Syria's pledge was "encouraging."
But, he told Fox News, "At the end of the day, it's going to be deeds, not words, that matter."
"(The) UN Security Council resolution requires getting Syrian troops and intelligence officials out of Lebanon, so that the Lebanese can have elections here this spring that are free and fair and free of outside influence," he said.
"It needs to be full and complete withdrawal," he added. "Our position is it needs to be done as soon as possible so that the elections can be free, fair and free of outside influence."