UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Annan’s personal envoy yesterday paid his respects to Syria’s and Iran’s allies in Lebanon after attending the funeral of slain opposition leader Rafik Hariri Wednesday, which turned into a huge demonstration against the Syrian occupation.

The most controversial of Lakhdar Brahimi’s courtesy calls was with the leader of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, Sheikh Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah, who was described yesterday by U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard merely as “a senior Shiite cleric.”

The designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization has become part of the latest trans-Atlantic rift, with Washington pressuring the European Union to add the Iranian and Syrian-backed organization to its list of terror groups. At a meeting in Paris just prior to Hariri’s assassination on Monday, Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom failed to convince President Chirac to do so.

Mr. Brahimi, a longtime U.N. aide and a former Arab League official, is no stranger to pro-Syrian politics in Lebanon. As the League’s representative, in fact, he was responsible for securing the 1989 TAIF accord, which has served as Syria’s pretext to continue its occupation of Lebanon ever since. In addition to Mr. Fadlallah, he paid courtesy visits yesterday on President Emile Lahoud, Speaker Nabih Berry, Prime Minister Omar Karame, and For eign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud, Mr. Eckhard said.

The Syrian-backed extension of Mr. Lahoud’s term in office last fall in violation of Lebanon’s constitution was the reason the U.N. Security Council passed resolution 1559, which called on all foreigners to stop interfering in Lebanon and withdraw their troops. Hariri, who had campaigned for the U.N. resolution, resigned as prime minister shortly after it passed,

Mr. Brahimi, according to Mr. Eckhard, also met with Druze opposition leader Walid Jumbalat, but this was a far cry from American and French envoys, who shied from any contact with the pro-Syrian leaders. Several times in recent months Mr. Annan’s spokespersons were forced to say that Mr. Brahimi’s views on Middle East issues do not represent those of the secretary-general.

Separately, Mr. Eckhard said yesterday that no announcement regarding an investigation into Hariri’s assassination is expected before next week. The council requested Mr.Annan to “report urgently on the circumstances, causes, and consequences” of the assassination on Tuesday.

The Lebanese opposition yesterday joined French President Chirac in a call for an “international investigation.” But forensic and intelligence experts said that by now, and certainly by the time the U.N. launches an investigation, the trail will have probably gone cold.