UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- Syria has not withdrawn its troops from Lebanon, as required by a resolution of the U.N. Security Council adopted earlier this month, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday.

While Syria has shifted about 3,000 soldiers formerly deployed south of Beirut, it is unclear whether they have actually left Lebanon, Annan said in a report to the council.

"The Syrian government has indicated to me that a total of about 14,000 Syrian troops remains in Lebanon. It says that a majority of these forces are now based near the Syrian border and that they are not deployed deep inside Lebanon," he said.

Syria dominates Lebanon politically and had until recently stationed some 17,000 soldiers in the country. Syria first sent in its troops in 1976, at the government's request, to keep peace after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Annan said the Lebanese and Syrian governments did not offer a timetable for an eventual pull-out, telling him the timing of further withdrawals "would be determined by the security situation in Lebanon and the region."

In addition to its uniformed forces, Syria also has "a substantial presence" of intelligence officers in Lebanon, who also have not been withdrawn, Annan said Damascus told him.

The U.S.-drafted resolution, co-sponsored by France, squeaked through the 15-nation Security Council on Sept. 2 by a vote of 9-0 with six abstentions.

It was put forward in an unsuccessful attempt to head off a move in Lebanon's parliament to amend the constitution and extend the term of Syrian-backed Lebanese President Emile Lahoud for three years after his current six-year term expires in November.

Annan avoided comment on whether the constitutional amendment was legal, but he said he had always opposed world leaders holding on to office beyond prescribed term limits.

CALLS FOR DISBANDING MILITIAS

The resolution also called for disbanding all militias in Lebanon, and Annan said the Lebanese government had pledged to disarm and disband "all irregular armed groups."

However, while Lebanon has made "great strides" in reducing the number of militias present in Lebanon, it insists that the Hizbollah guerrilla group, operating in the south, is a "national resistance group" that defends Lebanon from Israel, particularly in the Shebaa Farms area, Annan said.

Lebanon insists that Shebaa, occupied by Israel, is a part of Lebanese rather than Syrian territory. But the United Nations says this is not the case unless the two countries sign a treaty adjusting their shared border.

Regardless of Lebanon's insistence, Lebanon pledged in 2000 to respect the border as set out by the United Nations, and Security Council resolutions have called on Lebanon to respect that commitment, Annan said.

There are also armed Palestinian groups on Lebanese soil, and the United States and Israel have accused Damascus and Beirut of sheltering militant groups waging attacks on Israel.

Annan said the Lebanese government had assured him Palestinian militants could not leave their refugee camps with weapons, and the government has positioned troops outside the camps "apparently to enforce this policy."

Lebanese officials also expressed concern that the large number of Palestinian refugees now living in their country might settle there permanently, he said, adding that the government "insists that a final Middle East settlement should contain provision for the resettlement of these refugees."

By Irwin Arieff