A UN team arrived in Lebanon today to verify whether Syria had withdrawn all its troops and intelligence agents in line with a Security Council resolution.
In further signs of Syria's waning influence in Lebanon, the new government replaced the pro-Syrian police, justice and intelligence chiefs, who were forced out under pressure from Damascus's opponents, and removed the head of state security.
Syria told the United Nations on Tuesday it had ended its 29-year military and intelligence presence in its tiny neighbour and was in full compliance with resolution 1559.
But UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he could not confirm that until the UN verification mission had checked it.
That team arrived in Damascus on Tuesday seeking maps of the bases Syria has abandoned in Lebanon and a final report on its pullout from Syrian officials.
The eight-member mission will visit former Syrian army and intelligence bases to check the last forces have indeed gone. It was not clear how long that process would take.
Syria entered Lebanon early in the 1975-1990 civil war and has dominated Lebanon militarily and politically since, incurring little international opposition until the Security Council passed a resolution in September demanding it withdraw.
Pressure on Syria to end its grip mounted after the February 14 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, which many Lebanese blamed on Damascus.
The assassination provoked large street protests and an international outcry, prompting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to announce on March 5 that he would bring his 14,000-strong forces home. The pullout was completed in less than two months.