U.N. Verifiers Search for Syrian Operatives Hiding in Beirut Suburbs

A U.N. team entrusted with verifying Syria's evacuation of Lebanon is due in Beirut Thursday to ascertain that the Assad regime had left no intelligence operatives behind in such potential hideouts as Hizbullah's strongholds on the capital's southern outskirts or the Chatilla and Bourj el Barajneh Palestinian refugee camps. Local media reports said Wednesday other possible hideouts were in territories where Syrian loyalists such as the Baath Party maintain prominence in northern and eastern Lebanon. The verifiers are now in Damascus, examining maps and air films the Syrian authorities had provided to show the pullout was complete. U.N. chief Kofi Annan said in New York he would authenticate the Syrian evacuation only if his verifiers turned in a positive report. The team "will report to me and complete its work as soon as possible," Annan said, calling Syria's pullout "an open question which we can't take a stand on." A senior U.N. official said the verification team would update Annan within a week. "They were asked to report back to the secretary general in a week's time assessing the practical difficulties, if any, they will meet. And we will then on that basis decide on how to proceed," the official said. "What the verification team will ask Syria to do is to give us a complete overview of the locations of all Syrian forces, including the intelligence forces, with precise locations," he said. They would then check the sites. "The implementation of this resolution would be very significant, not only for the region but also for the U.N. as an organization," the official said. In his report, Annan said he had been told that some Syrian intelligence forces that played a crucial role in Syria's years-long reign had stayed behind in some locations in Lebanon. "The governments of Lebanon and Syria have assured me that this is not the case," Annan said. He nevertheless acknowledged the "difficulties" of a full withdrawal given Syria's history in Lebanon.(Naharnet-AFP)