UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations has urged Lebanon to set its borders with Syria and disband the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah militia so it can be master of its own nation - a call Hezbollah immediately rejected yesterday.

In turn, Syria should take up Beirut's offer of establishing diplomatic relations as well as demarcating the entire 250-kilometer boundary between the two countries, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released late on Tuesday. "A united Lebanon has offered an outstretched hand to Syria," Annan said. "I call on Syria to accept this offer and undertake measures, in particular, to establish embassies and delineate the border between Syria and Lebanon."

The 23-page report, prepared by UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, is a response to Security Council resolution 1559 of September 2004 that called for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and for Lebanon to disarm militias so the Beirut government could control the entire country.