UNITED NATIONS – Lebanese officials yesterday said they would allow the creation of a U.N. team to monitor the removal of Syrian occupation forces from Lebanon. The decision comes on the tail of Damascus’s weekend promise to complete withdrawal of troops by the end of April.

An official familiar with the negotiations of U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen told The New York Sun that when Mr. Roed-Larsen brought up the idea during meetings in Beirut yesterday, Lebanese officials said they had no problem with his proposal.

On Sunday, Mr. Roed-Larsen said that Damascus also “has agreed with me that, subject to acceptance by the Lebanese government, a U.N. verification team will be dispatched in order to verify the full Syrian withdrawal.”

It was not clear yesterday how such a verification team would be assembled and some Security Council members were surprised at the idea. “The council should at least be consulted” before a team is established, the Algerian ambassador, Abdallah Baali, told the Sun. A letter from U.N. Secretary-General Annan informing the council of the a team’s establishment would probably suffice, Mr. Baali said. He warned, however, that “he can’t just do it on his own.”

Separately, America and France hope to get the council to vote tomorrow on a resolution establishing an investigative team to determine the circumstances of the February 13 assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri.

Ambassador Wang Guangya of China said yesterday that full cooperation by the Lebanese government must be assured before any such mission could be approved. “There needs to be full respect to the sovereignty of Lebanon,” Mr. Baali added.

According to a recent report to the council by Ireland’s deputy police commissioner Peter FitzGerald, however, no proper investigation could be conducted as long as the current Lebanese security apparatus is in place. Mr. FitzGerald is expected to be named as head of the new investigation team.

Many in Lebanon directly or indirectly blame Syria for Hariri’s assassination. Most oppositionists also are skeptical of Syria’s promises of full withdrawal, including the latest pledges made to Mr. Roed-Larsen on Sunday in Damascus. The doubt is primarily related to a promise to withdraw intelligence operators from the country. It is not clear how a U.N. verification team could confirm the withdrawal of intelligence agents.

According to reports from Beirut, the hurried mid-March evacuation of the Beau Rivage Hotel, long known as the headquarters of the Syrian intelligence forces in the country, was a ruse. Most agents, according to opposition figures, relocated to the southern suburbs of Beirut, which are under the control of the pro-Syrian Hezbollah terror organization.

Meanwhile, at Turtle Bay, embattled Secretary-General Annan is expected to address the entire U.N. staff at the General Assembly Hall today in an attempt to boost morale after last week’s damning report by the Volcker Committee. Staffers were invited to send email questions to be asked at the public meeting, but a U.N. spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said yesterday that other questions could be asked as well.

Mr. Annan is expected to direct the staff’s attentions to the task of reforming the United Nations, as suggested in his recent report to the assembly, rather than the scandals that continue to plague the organization.

Yesterday, however, Mr. Guangya of China cast doubt on one of the key reform areas, arguing against a rushed expansion of the Security Council, where Beijing has veto power. Over the weekend, protesters demonstrated in China against the inclusion of Japan in an expanded council.

Earlier, Arab states expressed opposition to another proposed reform ingredient: a clear definition of terrorism as a foundation to an anti-terror international convention. Washington, for its part, opposes Mr. Annan’s proposal to outline international rules for military campaigns, adding to the concerns about whether Mr. Annan’s reforms could be put in place by next fall, as he had urged.