UNITED NATIONS (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday recommended extending the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) between Israel and Syria until the end of next June and called on UN Member States to pay up their arrears for the troops.

In a brief report to the Security Council, Annan said the situation in the Middle East remains tense and "under the prevailing circumstances I consider the continued presence of UNDOF in the area to be essential."

"The government of the Syrian Arab Republic has given its assent to the proposed extension. The government of Israel has also expressed its agreement," he said.

He added, however, that troop-contributing governments were owed 19.9 million US dollars and called on all UN member states to pay their assessments in full.

UNDOF, whose current mandate expires on June 30, was established in May 1974 to monitor the Israeli-Syrian ceasefire in the Golan Heights. Last month it had 1,039 troops from Austria, Canada, Japan, Nepal, Poland and Slovakia and was assisted by 77 military observers from the UN Troop Supervision Organization (UNTSO).

The Security Council is scheduled to start considering action on UNDOF on Friday.