UNITED NATIONS, Feb 19: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is sending a team to Beirut within the next few days following a request of the Security Council that he report urgently on the circumstances , causes and consequences of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murder, a UN spokesman announced on Friday.

The team will be led by Peter Fitzgerald, a deputy police commissioner of the Irish national police force, known as the Garda Síochána. It will consist of staff with relevant expertise.

The team will make contact with Lebanese officials and others to gather such information as necessary for the Secretary General to report to the Council in a timely manner, the spokesman said in a statement.