Diplomatic sources said the report, which is to be released later in the day after Annan relays it to the 15-member Security Council, was expected to be "technical" and unlikely to contain startling revelations.

A Middle Eastern diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said this was due in part to the fact that the Brammertz-led enquiry panel had to leave Beirut for Nicosia in July when war broke out in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas, which hampered its work. The panel is now back in Beirut.

The Security Council was to hold consultations on the Hariri case Friday.

Hariri was killed in a massive bomb blast that also killed 22 others on the Beirut seafront in February 2005.

A report by Brammertz's predecessor, Detlev Mehlis, implicated senior officials from Syria, which for decades was the power broker in its smaller neighbor. Damascus strongly denies any connection with the killing.

Two weeks ago, an exiled former Syrian intelligence officer was quoted as saying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, ordered the Hariri assassination.

"Bashar al-Assad and Emile Lahoud gave the orders for Hariri's murder," Mohammed Zuhair as-Saddiq was quoted by the Beirut daily An-Nahar as saying in an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite television channel.

Saddiq, a former colonel in Damascus' intelligence service who was speaking from Paris, also claimed that "former Lebanese officials and certain Arab officials", whom he did not identify to Al-Arabiya, "also participated in this crime".

Last June, the council extended the mandate of the UN panel headed by Brammertz until June 15, 2007 at the request of the Lebanese government.

Brammertz, a Belgian prosecutor, then released a report citing "greater cooperation" from Syria and backing a Lebanese request for extending the UN probe of the murder.

"Cooperation with Syria has further developed," that report said, while adding: "Full and unconditional cooperation from Syria to the commission remains crucial."

Brammertz told the council at the time that he saw "potential linkages" between his probe of the Hariri murder and other attacks targeting anti-Syrian Lebanese figures.

"In light of the potential linkages between the Hariri investigation and the 14 other cases, the (Brammertz) commission believes that a much more concerted and robust effort is needed to move these cases forward," Brammertz told the council in June.

The 14 cases include assassinations and assassination attempts targeting anti-Syrian Lebanese figures, as well as attacks on commercial interests.

Earlier this month, UN Under Secretary General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel said progress had been made on setting up an international court to try suspects in the Hariri murder.

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