DAMASCUS, Oct 5 (AFP) - Syria repeated Tuesday its objection to a UN Security Council resolution indirectly demanding that it withdraw its troops from neighboring Lebanon and respect the country's sovereignty.
"Syria reaffirms that discussions at the Security Council on Syrian-Lebanese relations are a precedent of illegal interference in the affairs of sovereign members of the United Nations," foreign ministry spokeswoman Bushra Kanafani said.
Kanafani said she was reacting to a report issued Friday by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in which he said Syria has not complied with the demand by Resolution 1559, adopted on September 2, for Damascus to pull its troops out of Lebanon.
The resolution made no specific reference to Syria but was clearly aimed at Damascus.
Syria is the powerbroker in its smaller neighbour, where it maintains an estimated 15,000 troops, a holdover from a larger contingent sent in during Lebanon's brutal 1975-1990 civil war.
Last week Syrian troops wrapped up a limited pullout from Lebanon, with about 3,000 soldiers returning home from their posts on the southern outskirts of Beirut.
The United States and France pressed hard for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution last month after a constitutional amendment allowed President Emile Lahoud, a Syrian protege, to stay in office three more years.