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Syria 'involved' in hit - UN

2005-10-21 10:28

United Nations - High-ranking Syrian and Lebanese security officials plotted the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a complex operation that needs further investigation, a United Nations probe concluded.

It marked the first official link of government officials in Damascus to the car bomb that killed Hariri and 20 others on February 14 and was almost certain to increase already heightened tensions in the region.

Questions were also raised about Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Syria's staunchest ally. He received a phone call minutes before the blast from the brother of a prominent member of a pro-Syrian group - a call that should be part of a further investigation, the report said.

The strongly worded report released on Thursday by chief investigator Detlev Mehlis didn't call for the arrest of any Syrians, but it was highly critical of the Syrian government. It accused Syrian authorities of trying to mislead the investigation, and directly accused Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa of lying in a letter sent to Mehlis' commission.

Intelligence operations around Hariri

Earlier this week, a United States official and two UN diplomats said the United States and France were preparing new Security Council resolutions critical of Syria over its alleged involvement in the assassination and alleged arms funnelling to Lebanese militias.

US Ambassador John Bolton said shortly after the report's release that the United States has "considered various contingencies" but would decide what to do next only after it had read the report and consulted with "other interested governments."

The 53-page report painstakingly outlines Hariri's relationship with Lebanese and Syrian officials, and the events leading up to the assassination, which it said appeared to have been political. The report was based on the findings of an initial brief UN investigation, statements from 244 witnesses, crime scene exhibits, and the work of 30 investigators from 17 countries.

The report said the intelligence services of Syria and Lebanon kept tabs on Hariri before his assassination by wiretapping his phone, and there was evidence a telecommunications antenna was jammed near the scene of the car bomb.

The decision to assassinate Hariri "could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security official and could not have been further organised without the collusion of their counterparts in the Lebanese security services," the report said.

The report quotes a Syrian witness living in Lebanon who claimed to have worked for Syrian intelligence in Lebanon as naming several officials who conspired to assassinate Hariri.

In a letter accompanying the report, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he would extend the investigation until December 15, which would allow the team to continue its work and help the Lebanese authorities

Hariri's death led to demonstrations against Syria and magnified the international pressure on Damascus to withdraw its troops, which it eventually did. The Security Council approved a probe into Hariri's assassination on April 8.

- AP

inside news24

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