On May 23 the Security Council officially supported Secretary General Kofi Annan's report outlining the requirements of Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and other armed groups in Lebanon and their patrons, as well as the United Nations. His special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen was preparing to leave for the region after the meeting with a special team that included the head U.N. cartographer to verify the Israeli pullout. We demand cooperation from all. What is happening on the ground today is encouraging and I would expect that to continue. We're hoping they'll be able to verify very quickly and then the rest of the situation will move on from there.
Today is the first important step in strongly endorsing that effort.
The U.N. will then identify physical sites on the ground to confirm the Israeli withdrawal. However, the U.N. is not establishing an international border. Whatever line the United Nations uses will be without prejudice to future border agreements between the member states concerned, Annan said. From Lebanon, the secretary general has asked for decisive and prompt action by the government to resume public services as well as law and order functions throughout the area, the report said. Only with the support of all parties concerned will it be possible for peace and security to be restored in southern Lebanon.