Tension prevails in Lebanese official and political circles on the eve of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's report to the Security Council on the implementation of Resolution 1559, which called on Syria without naming it to pull out its estimated 15,000 troops from Lebanon and stop interfering in its neighbor's internal affairs. Lebanon is wary the report will be harsh and firm as to the insistence on implementing the resolution, which also calls for disbanding all local and foreign militias in Lebanon, an obvious reference to Hizbullah, Beirut's dailies As Safir and An Nahar noted Thursday. Annan is expected to hand out his report to the Security Council's members Thursday after which official consultations and discussions will start behind closed doors to decide on the next move. The council would then either meet to announce its next step or its president would issue a statement in that regard, As Safir said.

As Safir quoted informed sources as saying that the United States and France, the sponsors and architects of 1559, are adamant on maintaining a firm stance and have refused to enter into any dialogue with Lebanon and Syria before the announcement of Annan's report. They said Washington and Paris have been discussing with council members four main points as part of future moves to be undertaken in order to ensure the implementation of 1559. One is to call for the formation of an international monitoring committee to oversee the implementation of the resolution. The body would comprise the United States, France, Lebanon and Syria and its mechanism would be similar to that of the 1996 five-nation April Understanding Committee, which monitored border violations between Israel and Hizbullah. The sources said the move reflected a U.S.-French attempt to legitimize a socalled "political resistance against Syrian presence in Lebanon."

Second, to consider the Lebanese presidential election as a violation of Resolution 1559 in the sense that it was conducted under Syrian pressures over Lebanese politicians. But there will be no challenging of the legitimacy of the amendment of the Lebanese constitution since such amendments are stipulated under the constitution.

Third, to welcome with reservation the latest redeployment of the Syrian army in Lebanon, which took place two weeks ago. There will also be a clarification that the foreign forces present in Lebanon are only Syrian forces and they should pull out from Lebanese territory as soon as possible, and that there is no link whatsoever between the Syrian military presence in Lebanon and the conflict in the Middle East region making the Syrian army an occupation force. It will state that Israel implemented international resolution 425 and has no longer any military presence in Lebanon, and that Lebanon and Syria are requested to act as quickly as possible to implement 1559.

The fourth point pertains to how seriously and effectively Lebanon is exercising its sovereignty over all national territory especially in the south. There will be a note that the Lebanese state's presence in that area is very shy, the sources said. There could also be a proposal to modify the official presence in the south by replacing internal security forces there with army troops and boosting their numbers so that they can take full security control in line with the 1949 truce agreement with Israel. That also entails pulling out all armed elements from the area in an obvious reference to Hizbullah fighters.

According to Lebanese diplomatic sources quoted in As Safir, attempts to convince Annan and his team not to tackle the issue of the presidential elections have failed. Annan reportedly answered the Lebanese team at the U.N. headquarters in New York that he was not in a position to allow him to accept comments and remarks on the international resolution. In Paris, the paper quoted official sources as saying that the latest Syrian military redeployment in Lebanon "is not up to the expected and aspired level" and that "clearer steps should be taken in that regard."

In the meantime, Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares expressed official fears and concerns over Annan's projected report. Speaking after meetings with President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Wednesday, Fares said all indications are that the "U.N. Secretary General's report will be negative" for Lebanon and Syria. Fares was quoted as saying in An Nahar that "although the issue of the extension of President Emile Lahoud's mandate is now behind us, we fear the Security Council will say that the extension took place in a legitimate way but under Syrian pressure."

"There is also a plan at the Security Council to set up a monitoring committee for resolution 1559 and they also want to name Syrian military presence in Lebanon and call on Syria to pull out its troops as soon as possible," Fares said. He cautioned that "placing Lebanon under permanent international monitoring is harmful and the permanent monitoring committee will be like a gun pointed at the heads of Lebanon and Syria and this is not in our interest."

In a related development, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview with France's Agence France Presse (AFP) that the "report to be presented by the U.N. secretary general over Damascus' respect of Lebanon sovereignty and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from that country should be tough." "I hope the report will be tough and I hope it will clearly say that the international community expects (Syria) to respond in a better way than it has so far," Powell said. He stressed that he will wait for Annan's report to evaluate the extent of Syria's commitment to 1559.

In the meantime, Premier Hariri is scheduled to meet French President Jacques Chirac Thursday evening amid a reported strain between the two good old friends, As Safir reported. Hariri's visit to Paris is described as of great importance because it comes on the eve of Annan's report on 1559 and his talks with Chirac will be the first after the extension of Lahoud's mandate by another three years, a move staunchly opposed by France. Hariri was quoted by visitors as complaining about France's tough stance on 1559 and expressed hope his talks with Chirac would focus on the post-Annan's report phase.

Chirac is reportedly acting in cold way with his old friend Hariri who had demanded an appointment with the French president immediately after his meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, but Chirac's office delayed the date. Chirac is reportedly "unhappy with Hariri because the latter voted in favor of extending Lahoud's mandate contrary to what he had promised", As Safir said. Although he is a staunch opponent of Lahoud with whom he has failed to agree on political and economic issues, Hariri and his bloc in parliament voted in favor of amending the constitution to allow for the extension of the president's term in office. Hariri reportedly acted this way under tremendous Syrian pressures.