DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) -- Syria will withdraw all its forces in Lebanon to the Bekaa Valley area, closer to the Syria-Lebanon border, Syrian President Bashar Assad said Saturday.

Assad told Syria's parliament the 14,000 troops would then be withdrawn to the border, but he left unclear whether troops would be on the Syrian or Lebanese side.

Cabinet Minister Bouthaina Shaaban later told CNN the troops would leave Lebanon. They "will be inside Syria -- they will not be inside Lebanon," she said. "But they are on the border."

Assad did not give a timetable for the withdrawal, and said Lebanese and Syrian officials will meet next week to discuss the plan. A statement from the U.S. State Department criticized the moves as insufficient.

"President Assad's announcement is not enough," spokeswoman Darla Jordan said in the statement. "The international community has made clear that Syria must withdraw completely and immediately all of its military forces and intelligence services from Lebanon in accordance with [U.N. Security Council Resolution] 1559."

Resolution 1559, passed in 2004, calls for foreign forces to leave Lebanon and militias to disarm. Syria has had a military presence in Lebanon since the latter nation's civil war, which ended in 1990.

France, the co-sponsor with the United States of Resolution 1559, also indicated disappointment with Assad's speech.

"We ... expect him to fully withdraw his troops and services from Lebanon as soon as possible," a statement from the French Foreign Ministry said, according to The Associated Press.

Lebanese opposition figures said Assad's speech left other critical questions unanswered, including whether Syrian intelligence officials also would be pulled back.

Opposition leader Nassib Lahoud, in Beirut, told CNN the schedule for withdrawal "has to mean weeks, not years."

Assad's speech followed mounting international pressure and near daily protests in Lebanon that have drawn tens of thousands and led to the resignation of Lebanon's pro-Syrian government. The demonstrations ballooned after the assassination last month of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the top opposition figure.

Assad argued his country was not trying to "save face," and already had been taking steps to implement international agreements calling for withdrawal by removing 26,000 troops.

At the completion of the withdrawal, he said, "We will have fulfilled requirements of the Taif agreement and implemented 1559."

The Taif agreement -- which Hariri spearheaded and was brokered by Arab leaders in 1989 -- called for Syrian forces to withdraw to the Bekaa Valley and eventually to pull out, along with intelligence personnel.

Assad argued that an immediate pullout from Lebanon could sacrifice stability in that country.

He appeared to put the decision about the speed of the withdrawal on the United Nations.

Addressing the world body directly, he said Syria's plan was for a "coordinated withdrawal," but added: "If you, as the U.N., think we should immediately withdraw, not withstanding any negative impact on Lebanon, you tell us, you decide."

A spokesman for Kofi Annan said the U.N. secretary-general will study Assad's speech carefully.

Annan has asked special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen to travel to Beirut and Damascus this week to talk with Lebanese and Syrian officials, Fred Eckhard said. Hariri assassination 'atrocious crime'

Many Lebanese blame Syria for the bombing that killed Hariri and 16 others.

Assad called the slaying of Hariri "an atrocious crime ... an attack against the unity of Lebanon as well as Syria."

"So we stress that uncovering those criminals is as necessary for Syria as much as for Lebanon." He said the killing escalated the intensity of anti-Syrian sentiment in Lebanon. International call for Syria to pull out

The Arab League, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt also have stepped up pressure on Syria to get out of Lebanon.

Russia has long been one of Syria's best friends.

"Syria should withdraw from Lebanon, but we all have to make sure that this withdrawal does not violate the very fragile balance which we still have in Lebanon, which is a very difficult country ethnically," Reuters quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying.

Moscow abstained when the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1559. But Lavrov said the resolution, like any other Security Council measure, must be implemented.

And Thursday, Saudi leader Crown Prince Abdullah sharply told Assad to start getting out soon or face deeper isolation, wire services reported.

Abdullah told Assad that "Syria must start withdrawing soon, otherwise Saudi-Syrian relations will go through difficulties," Reuters quoted one Saudi official as saying.

CNN's Elise Labott contributed to this report.