Syria rejects UN Hariri report

2005-10-23 18:26

Damascus - Syria's highest political body, the National Progressive Front, on Sunday rejected a UN report implicating Damascus in the killing of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri as a distortion of the truth.

The report drawn up by German judge Detlev Mehlis is "full of contradictions and has distorted the truth and the facts," said the Front, which groups eight parties headed by President Bashar al-Assad's Baath.

"The parties trying to harm Syria will use the political issues contained in the report... which is based on testimony from people who lack all credibility and known for their hostility to Syria," it said in a statement.

Among those interviewed by Mehlis were former Lebanese minister Marwan Hamadeh and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt who claimed that Syria had made threats against Hariri in the runup to the assassination.

Damascus has tried to cast doubts on the credibility of the UN report which implicates Syrian security officials in the murder since Mehlis released the results of his probe on Thursday at the United Nations in New York.

"The Mehlis report is also based on received ideas which have led to unproven conclusions," it said.

The Front accused the UN commission headed by Mehlis investigating the Hariri murder of having likewise "distorted the testimony of Syrian officials" during interviews carried out last month.

It said Syria had cooperated in full with the commission, contrary to what was stated in the report.

"All this shows that the commission of inquiry was influenced by forces which want to harm Syria, weaken it and make unfounded accusations as part of political motives linked to the plans being hatched for the region."

- AFP