BEIRUT - Lebanese Prime Minister Nagib Miqati will travel Friday to New York for talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on last week's Syrian troop pullout, officials said Tuesday.
They will also discuss implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1959 and 1595, which called respectively for the Syrian troop pullout and the creation of a UN commission to probe the February 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, they said.
Talks are also expected to focus on the disarmament of Lebanese militias, especially the Hezbollah guerrilla movement, in line with Resolution 1959.
Miqati has rejected demands for the disarming of Hezbollah, saying "the government considers that the armed Lebanese resistance epitomises the people's right to defend its land and dignity against Israeli aggression".
Syria said last week it completed the withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon on April 26, ending nearly three decades of military and political domination over its smaller neighbour.
A UN team arrived Thursday in Lebanon and began this week to verify the pullout and must report back to Annan within a week.
Miqati is to visit Syria on Wednesday on his first trip abroad since taking office in mid-April.
Another UN team in Lebanon since Wednesday is setting the groundwork for a commission of inquiry into the killing of Hariri that unleashed anti-Syria protests that paved the way for the Syrian pullout.
While stopping short of directly pointing the finger at Syria, the United Nations said Damascus was to blame for tensions in Lebanon that preceded Hariri's assassination in a bomb attack which also killed another 19 people.
Miqati will also travel to Brazil to head Lebanon's delegation at a summit of Arab League and South American countries on May 10-11 in Brasilia, replacing President Emile Lahoud who had been expected to lead Lebanon's team.
05/03/2005 18:37 GMT