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US faults Syria on Hariri probe
14/06/2006 22:19 - (SA)
New York - The United States
accused Syria on Wednesday of failing to co-operate fully with a
UN inquiry into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister
Rafik al-Hariri.
The accusation, by America's United Nations ambassador, John
Bolton, came despite the latest progress report on the probe
led by Serge Brammertz of Belgium, which described Syrian
co-operation as "generally satisfactory".
"It is very clear that Mr Brammertz does not say in the
report that Syria is fully co-operating," Bolton told reporters
after Brammertz briefed the security council on the UN
investigative commission's work. Earlier reports had accused
Syria of obstructing the investigation into Hariri's 2005
assassination.
Brammertz's report, sent to the council on Saturday, said
Damascus "responded to all the commission's requests in a
timely manner and in some instances comprehensive responses
were provided".
"That is hardly a ringing endorsement," Bolton said.
Comprehensive responses in only some instances "obviously
implies that in some other instances - maybe a majority of
instances - comprehensive responses were not provided".
Detlev Mehlis, the German who led the commission until
January, had made clear in his reports his view that senior
Syrian intelligence officials and their Lebanese allies were
probably behind Hariri's February 14 2005, assassination. Hariri
and 18 others died in a massive bomb as his motorcade travelled
down a Beirut street. Syria denies involvement
Mehlis, who suggested Syria's leaders may have had Hariri
killed for challenging Syria's domination of Lebanon, had
repeatedly complained about Syrian obstruction of his work.
Syria has denied any role in the killing and
insists it is co-operating fully.
Syrian foreign minister Fayssal Mekdad told the council on
Wednesday that the biggest danger facing the investigation was
the attempt by unnamed parties who wanted to put pressure on
Syria, "to jump to prejudgments which are not based on clear
evidence or truth".
Lebanon is trying to put behind it some three decades of
Syrian domination while Washington is pushing Damascus to end
its support for armed groups that attack Israel and to seal its
border with Iraq to prevent insurgents from entering.
Thursday is the final day of the UN commission's mandate,
and Brammertz asked the security council to extend it for an
additional year. He also asked for more staff and money to
establish whether 14 other bomb attacks in Lebanon were linked
to the Hariri assassination.
Bolton said Washington supported both requests.
- Reuters
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