BEIRUT - UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen on Tuesday verified with his own eyes the closure of Syria's dreaded military intelligence headquarters in Beirut, ahead of a formal mission to ensure Damascus keeps its word on a full pullout from Lebanon.
"I would like to state today that (Syrian) President Bashar al-Assad has honoured his commitment to me to close down this headquarters, which I see now with my own eyes," he said after a brief tour.
"My visit here today is not a formal verification. A UN team will come in to visit a variety of places after my departure," he said outside the multi-storey apartment building on the seafront in west Beirut.
Syrian intelligence had until March 16 occupied three floors, the basement which was converted into prison cells, and three other buildings near the Beaurivage Hotel.
"It was a big feast for us when they left," said a woman living in one of the apartments, asking not to be named.
The only Syrian presence left in the area were the labourers fixing the pavement at the top of the road where a guard post had been demolished and barrier removed.
As part of his consultations in Beirut, where he arrived on Monday, the Norwegian diplomat earlier met Lebanon's army chief, Michel Suleiman, and the general security chief, Jamil el-Said.
On Wednesday, Roed-Larsen was to inspect other evacuated Syrian positions on the coast north of the capital, his spokesman said.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's envoy is tasked with overseeing implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, under which Syria has promised to complete its troop withdrawal from Lebanon by April 30.
On Monday, the Lebanese authorities approved UN plans to set up an international mission to verify that Syria pulls out all its soldiers and intelligence services.
According to an Arab diplomatic source, the mission would be made up of some 70 inspectors.
US President George W. Bush welcomed Syria's pledge of a full pullout. "When they say 'we're going to leave the country', we expect troops and security forces to leave," he said.
The withdrawal will end a 29-year Syrian military presence dating back to the early stages of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Resolution 1559, passed last September, calls for all foreign troops to quit Lebanon.
Suleiman and the Syrian chief of staff, Ali Habib, have decided to start the final phase of the withdrawal on Thursday.
The UN envoy, in meetings on Monday with the pro-Syrian authorities in Beirut, backed opposition demands that parliamentary elections take place as scheduled by the end of May.
Roed-Larsen said he and Lahoud saw "eye to eye" on the need to hold the polls "in a timely fashion" to restore security in Lebanon, where four bomb blasts have rocked Christian opposition areas since last month.
A political crisis sparked by the February 14 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri, an advocate of ending Syria's dominant role in Lebanon, left the elections in doubt.
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a leader of the pro-Syrian camp, on Monday refused to discuss the elections with Roed-Larsen, arguing that the issue went beyond his mandate.
In Washington, Bush said elections were the key next step for Lebanon.
"It's important for this election to take place on time, and we look forward to continue to work with our friends and allies to make sure Lebanon is truly free," he said.
The Lebanese opposition wants a new government to be set up without delay, regardless of its composition or format, to organise the polls and coordinate with a planned UN commission of inquiry into Hariri's murder.
Karameh, who has failed to bring the opposition into a national unity team, was quoted in the Beirut press as saying he could announce a new government by Saturday.
The anti-Syrian camp blames the authorities in Beirut and Damascus for the assassination.
On Tuesday, some 35 military trucks transporting Syrian troops were seen heading home from Lake Qaraoun in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, witnesses said.

04/05/2005 15:55 GMT