UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council meets at the foreign minister level Monday to vote on a toughly-worded resolution threatening Syria with economic sanctions unless it cooperates fully with a probe into the murder of Lebanon's ex-premier.

The co-sponsors of the draft resolution, the United States, France and Britain, say they are confident that a large majority of the council's 15 members will endorse the text and say they do not expect a veto by either China or Russia.

Up to 13 foreign ministers were attending the special session, which follows the release of a report by UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis implicating senior Syrian security officials in the murder of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri in Beirut last February.

The text of the draft resolution has been amended several times to mollify members, such as Algeria, China and Russia, which oppose any mention of economic or diplomatic sanctions.

"What we see is unanimous support for a very strong, very clear signal to Syria," the US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said Friday. "I don't foresee a veto."

To be adopted, a resolution needs the support of at least nine members and no veto from the five permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The foreign ministers of the council's five permanent members met Sunday night and again Monday morning to discuss the draft, French and US diplomats said.

"The meeting last night was productive, there was some progress but they are meeting again this morning," a French diplomat said.

A US diplomat said some minor changes were suggested but the thrust of the draft remained the same.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meanwhile also met his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing late Sunday to work out their position during the council vote.

"The convergence of views is obvious," the Russian foreign ministry said Monday, referring to the Lavrov-Li meeting.

Syria was meanwhile bracing for the worst.

"The draft resolution, inspired by international pressure and a carefully prepared media campaign, aims at separating the Syrian people from the regime," said the Syrian government daily Tishrin.

"Some quarters within the Security Council are trying to turn it into a tribunal whereby Chapter VII (of the UN charter, which provides for sanctions in the case of a threat to international peace and security) would be unfairly applied against Syria," Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Muallem Muallem said in Qatar Sunday.

The draft calls for Damascus to detain suspected nationals and urges states to impose a travel ban and a freeze of assets on all individuals designated as suspects.

But it also contains a provision which allows the council to decide what measures other than the use of force may be used to assure compliance, such as economic and diplomatic sanctions.

"It is premature and unjustified to talk of sanctions when the investigation is still going on," said Algeria's UN envoy Abdallah Baali, who represents the only Arab country on the council.

The UN probe led by Mehlis, an experienced German prosecutor, is to continue at least until December 15 at the request of the Lebanese government and with the approval of UN chief Kofi Annan.

In a last-minute bid to stave off threatened sanctions, Damascus on Saturday announced it was setting up its own inquiry into the Hariri murder as suggested by Mehlis in his report.

Muallem said the Syrian inquiry into Hariri's murder would have "full authority to investigate any person, whether civilian or military," and would cooperate with both the UN probe and Lebanese authorities.

But he skirted a question on whether the Syrian probe would cover members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle, including brother Maher and brother-in-law Assef Shawkat, who were named as suspects in a leaked confidential version of the Mehlis report.

Syria is represented at the meeting by its Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara and foreign affairs legal adviser Riad Daudi.

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