UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on Syria on Thursday to abide by the Security Council resolution urging it to withdraw troops from Lebanon.

    In his latest report to the 15-member council, Annan noted that Syria has not withdrawn its troops from Lebanon as called for by the council although Damascus said some 3,000 of its forces have been redeployed.

    UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, TerjeRoed-Larsen, briefed the council on Annan's report on resolution 1559, which called for all foreign troops to withdraw from Lebanon.It also called for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militia.

    Last month, the council narrowly adopted resolution 1559 declaring support for polling free from outside influence, and calling for the withdrawal of all remaining foreign forces, the disbanding of all militia and the extension of government control over the entire country.

    In his report, Annan said that, to the best of his ability to ascertain, the only significant foreign forces deployed in Lebanonare Syrian.

    Annan also noted that while the Government of Lebanon has made great strides in significantly reducing the number of militia present in Lebanon, several armed elements remain in the south, the most significant of which is Hezbollah.

    "The Lebanese and Syrian Governments have told me that the timing of further withdrawals would be determined by the security situation in Lebanon and the region," but both countries said they could not provide a schedule for such action, Annan said. Enditem