BEIRUT, Aug 31 (AFP) - Syria looks set to get its way with the reelection of its favored candidate as president of Lebanon amid rumblings the UN Security Council may be asked to condemn Damascus's domination of its smaller neighbor.
Last week, Lebanon's cabinet bowed to Syrian demands to approve a controversial bill allowing President Emile Lahoud to seek re-election in the face of growing opposition at home and abroad.
The bill, which would amend the constitution to enable Lahoud to defy term limits and stay on for another three years, must be approved by parliament.
There was a widespread view here Tuesday that Damascus can count on the two-thirds majority needed to approve the amendment, in a vote that could come as early as this weekend.
An Arab diplomat here said Syria is pushing for a quick decision to present a fait accompli before any action can be taken at the United Nations.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a draft UN resolution would consider "any election in Lebanon under prevailing conditions to be null and void."
It would call on Syria to "put an end to its interference in Lebanese internal affairs and to its military presence in Lebanon and to respect the country's constitution."
In Washington, a senior US official said Monday the United States and France were weighing the introduction of a resolution, but did not give details.
"We are discussing with the French a possible resolution at the Security Council that would stand up for Lebanon's right to decide its own fate," the official said.
That brought an immediate protest from Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid, who wrote to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan saying a resolution would itself constitute outside interference in the country's affairs.
A second official said US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns would likely visit Syria and Lebanon beginning next week for further discussions on the matter.
For his part, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said: "We and others care very much about what happens with Lebanon and the Lebanese constitution," reaffirming statements from the White House and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage last week.
"We have heard a lot of voices in Lebanon standing up for the established constitution, and we think the Lebanese people should be allowed to decide without influence from other parties," he said.
"It is our view and, I think, the view of many in Lebanon, that it's about time, 15 years after the Taif accords, to live up to the spirit of those accords and have all foreign forces removed from Lebanon."
Syria, which first intervened in Lebanon in 1976 during the country's civil war, has more than 15,000 troops in the country despite the provisions of the 1990 Taif accords, which call for the eventual withdrawal of troops.
In his letter to Annan, Obeid accused certain unnamed countries of acting under the pretext of respecting the constitution while "masking political intentions... of aiming to destabilize the country."
Obeid, who called on Annan to block any discussions, said they "could have a moral influence" over the election "and the UN Security Council would have been used as an instrument for interfering in Lebanese interal affairs."
He told journalists the election "should remain a Lebanese internal affair and not be the subject of international extortion and an attempt to sow discord between Lebanon and our (Syrian) brothers."
Meanwhile, two deputies opposed to Lahoud's re-election, including one who is running against him, said they had received threats and defamatory letters.
At the same time, the Beirut bar association issued an appeal for deputies to vote against the proposed constitutional amendment and "not submit to a dictat that does not reflect the will of the Lebanese."
And a group of intellectuals said it had collected 300 signatures from influential figures on a manifesto saying that any attempt to amend the constitution would be "nothing more than a perpetuation of (Lebanon's) dependence" on Syria.