WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (AFP) - The United States wants UN chief Kofi Annan to present a "tough" report this week on Syria's compliance with a UN Security Council resolution demanding respect for Lebanese sovereignty that says Damascus must do more to meet the world body's demands, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told AFP on Wednesday.
Powell would not comment on what the US believed would be in the report which Annan is to present to the Council on Friday but said Washington did not think Damascus had done enough to meet the requirements of the resolution which calls for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
"I'll wait for the secretary general's report before characterizing what score the Syrians get on their compliance with the resolution," he said in an interview. "But, I hope it's a tough report.
"I hope it's a report that makes it clear that the international community is expecting more compliance than we have seen so far," Powell said.
In the resolution, adopted on September 2, the Security Council reaffirmed its "call for the strict respect of Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence under the sole and exclusive authority of the government of Lebanon throughout Lebanon."
The resolution, which passed by the bare minimum of nine votes in favor with six abstentions, made no specific reference to Syria but was clearly aimed at the 16,000 troops it still maintains on Lebanese soil more than four years after Israel's withdrawal.
In response, Syria redeployed and sent home some 3,000 troops from their posts on the outskirts of Beirut in a limited pullout that does not meet the UN demand for the complete withdrawal of all foreign soldiers from Lebanon.
Last week, Powell praised the move as "positive" but stressed that the Syrians had more to do to meet the Security Council's requirements.