United Nations Mideast special envoy Terje Roed- Larsen arrived in Beirut Friday to pay his condolences to the family of slain ex premier Rafik Hariri. "I came here to pay my respect and condolences to the Hariri family..." Larsen told reporters after he visited the grave of the late premier in downtown Beirut amid very tight security measures. Hariri was killed in a February 14 massive blast at the seafront along with nineteen other people. Larsen is due to leave for Damascus on Saturday where he will meet with President Bashar Assad for talks on the pullback of Syrian troops in Lebanon. Najib Freiji, a U.N. spokesman in Beirut, said that Larsen "will repeat the positions he expressed during his last meetings with Syrian and Lebanese officials as well as Lebanese opposition, calling for a dialogue, cooperation and calm." Freiji was responding to a story in The Washington Post on Friday that said that Larsen was to present an ultimatum to Damascus. ---SP 2256 Local Time 1956 GMT
