THE United Nations Security Council agreed last night to accept a report from the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, that the Israeli army had finally withdrawn from Lebanese territory .

But in a nod to Russia, the council also acknowledged that there might have been some violations of the border since the report was produced on Friday. The Security Council met for more than seven hours on Saturday for a session that was expected to approve Mr Annan's report.

But the session dragged on into yesterday after the Russians, who have the power of veto, said they would not vote for endorsement without the approval of the Lebanese government. which had insisted that Israel was encroaching on its land in six places.

The council's statement - which required the consent of all 15 members - was finally read formally last night by its current president, Jean-David Levitte of France. The UN wants the Lebanese army to deploy to the border, supported by an expanded peacekeeping force but few countries will provide troops to this force unless they are sure of the full co-operation of the Lebanese government and army.

At present, the border area is controlled by Hizbollah guerrillas, whose campaign forced the Israeli army to withdraw last month and abandon its local militia allies. Hizbollah, which is backed by Iran, has threatened to take up arms again if Lebanon's concerns are not answered.

It said Mr Annan's report was "inaccurate and hasty" and added: "We regret that the United Nations has turned into a cover for the continuation of the Zionist occupation of Lebanese land." UN cartographers insist that Israel has made a full withdrawal, with a final Israeli military position moved back from Lebanese soil on Saturday.

But President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon said the UN was proposing a "fictitious line as a substitute for the international border". Drawing the withdrawal line has been fraught with problems. It is supposed to mark the 1923 border, drawn by British and French authorities.

In the past 22 years, Israel has encroached on patches of Lebanese territory to improve its security. The UN recognises that there are disagreements on where its cartographers have delineated the border but it had apparently understood that both countries would respect the line as drawn.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, is pressing the UN to patrol the border, where at the moment Israeli forces and Hizbollah fighters are separated by only a barbed wire fence - a situation which could blow up into a battle at any time. The prime minister's office said Israel expected the UN "to bring order and quiet to the region".

Israel's strategy has been to comply with the UN fully in the hope that this would persuade Hizbollah to lay down its arms. Mr Annan is due in Beirut today. He had threatened to cancel the trip if the Security Council did not support his report.