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Annan gets latest report on Hariri killing
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-12 13:49
The lead U.N. investigator into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime
minister delivered his latest report to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday,
and two U.N. diplomats said the document was expected to raise new questions
about Syria's cooperation.
Detlev Mehlis, who is stepping down from his post but expects his probe to
continue, refused to comment when he met Annan at the U.N. chief's residence. A
previous report in October implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials
in Rafik Hariri's Feb. 14 assassination and said Damascus must cooperate more
with the investigation.
Two U.N. diplomats, who requested anonymity because Mehlis' latest findings
were not yet public, said the new report was expected to question Syria's
cooperation again. One of the diplomats said France had prepared a draft U.N
Security Council resolution lamenting that there had not been full cooperation.
Both stressed that they had not yet read the report.
Such a finding would be important because after Mehlis delivered his earlier
report, the council had warned Syria that it would face further action 錕斤拷
possibly including sanctions 錕斤拷 if it did not cooperate fully.
German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis (L) with UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan at Annan's residence in New York.
[AFP/file] | Syria denies involvement and has said it is cooperating. At the same time, it
has waged a campaign to discredit the commission. Syrian state television has
repeatedly broadcast interviews with a Syrian witness, Husam Taher Husam, who
recanted his testimony to the commission and said he had been bribed to frame
Syria.
Mehlis said Friday he is satisfied with the evidence he has gathered but he
would not say if the report recommended measures against Syria. He said the
commission's findings would not be greatly affected by Husam's retraction.
In an interview broadcast on Russian television on Sunday, Syrian President
Bashar Assad again declared his country's innocence and said any attempt to
impose sanctions against Syria would destabilize the region.
Last week, members of the Mehlis commission questioned several senior Syrian
officials at the U.N. offices in Vienna. U.N. diplomats there said Rustum
Ghazale, the last Syrian intelligence chief in Lebanon who was in charge when
Hariri was assassinated, was among them.
In the interview, Assad said that any citizen found guilty of involvement in
Hariri's death would be considered a traitor and severely punished, but added
that the commission must provide hard proof for its claims.
Mehlis' latest report was expected to be made public on Monday, when it is
delivered to the U.N. Security Council. Mehlis will brief the council on
Tuesday, and expects to step down sometime after.
Nonetheless, Lebanon has asked the United Nations to extend Mehlis'
commission for six months after its mandate expires on Thursday. The Security
Council, whose approval would be required, is likely to agree to extend it until
June 15.
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