BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese President Emile Lahoud heads to Cuba on Wednesday to take part in a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), his office said.

Following his visit to the Cuban capital Havana, Lahoud would travel to New York to take part in the 61st meeting of the UN General Assembly, it said in a statement.

Lahoud's mandate was extended for three years in September 2004 at the request of Syria, whose troops were deployed in Lebanon at the time, despite a UN resolution calling for the country's constitution to be respected.

As a result, the Lebanese president has since been boycotted by envoys and ambassadors of a majority of Western countries.

In addition to the demand to respect Lebanon's constitution, the UN Security Council Resolution 1559 called for the withdrawal of Syrian troops and the disarmament of militias in the country.

Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon last year.

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