Syria 'satisfied' with UN al-Hariri probe

Syria 'satisfied' with UN al-Hariri probe
Thursday 22 September 2005, 14:14 Makka Time, 11:14 GMT

The head of the UN inquiry into former Lebanese premier Rafiq al-Hariri's
murder will wrap up his latest mission to Damascus on Thursday, according to
a Syrian close to the case.

Questioning by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis "is continuing. It should
finish today (Thursday), and we do not know when (he) will return", the
official said on Thursday.

Few details on the mission have been released by either the United Nations
or the Syrians although it is expected that Mehlis will return to
neighbouring Lebanon, where his commission of inquiry is based.

Syria is satisfied with UN investigators' handling of meetings with Syrian
officials to hear testimony on al-Hariri's assassination, a Syrian source
said on Wednesday.

"We are comfortable with the manner in which the meetings are being
conducted," the official said on the second day of interviews at a hotel
near the Syrian-Lebanese border.

The official declined to specify what questions were raised during the
investigation, which Syrian media have said they fear might be politicised.

Another source said legal experts had been attending the meetings, whose
records are being minuted in Arabic and signed by members of the UN team and
the witnesses. He said the unidentified officials were testifying "in their
personal capacities and not as officials".

Unfettered cooperation

Some Lebanese have blamed Syria, the dominant power in the country for
nearly three decades, for the 14 February attack that killed al-Hariri and
20 others. Damascus has denied any role.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah al-Dardari said on Tuesday that Damascus had
"nothing to worry about" and reiterated that it would offer the team, headed
by German Prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, unfettered cooperation.

Syria, which denied any role in the murder of al-Hariri, agreed last week to
allow Mehlis' visit after being accused of not cooperating with the
investigation, which began in June.

The investigating team arrived in Syria on Tuesday to hear testimony from
Syrian officials, who according to sources in Beirut, comprise mainly
officers involved in Lebanon's security about the time of the killing of
al-Hariri.

The officials include Rustom Ghazali, chief of intelligence in Lebanon, and
senior aides Mohammad Khallouf and Jamae Jamae, the sources in Lebanon have
said.

Al-Hariri's killing sparked mass anti-Syrian protests in Beirut that forced
Damascus to bow to world pressure and end its military presence in Lebanon
in April.

Bomb threat

Meanwhile, police and soldiers cordoned off a plush commercial center near
the Lebanese Foreign Ministry after officials reported a bomb threat.

Explosive experts and police dogs searched the Center Sofil in the Ashrafiya
district, where a bomb exploded last Friday, killing one person and wounding
23 others.

Security officials did not immediately give the source of the threat, but
the LBC television station reported that an employee in a bank in a
different part of the city had received a call saying a bomb would explode
at Center Sofil.

Reuters

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F146217E-F540-4708-9852-5C03450C8B20.htm


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