BEIRUT, Lebanon, October 12 (Lebanonwire) -- Syria brought out its heavy guns Tuesday, unleashing its anger at top Lebanese officials and threatening to open the “gates of hell” if subjected to a US military action against it, daily Al Mustaqbal said Wednesday.

As the countdown to revealing the findings of the UN report on former Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder reaches its final stages, Syria escalated the tone of its displeasure with local and international insinuations about its alleged involvement with the crime, bringing out old ghosts that reminded people of the days that preceded Hariri’s assassination.

All three state-affiliated dailies Tichreen, Al Thawara and Al Baath have made veiled threats in every direction, instead of trying to learn from past experiences and moving to mend relations with Lebanon, while priding themselves with the fact that Syria's prime minister is refusing to answer three daily telephone calls by Siniora, Al Mustaqbal wrote.

Syrian daily ‘Tichreen’ expressed its anger at Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s reneging on the statements he made during a recent visit to Damascus, saying, “foreign tutelage has taken its toll on Lebanon whereby politicians there are weakened to a point that they are unable to abide by their views and their statements.”

“Siniora forgot the statements he made in Syria during his last visit to the US and has instead expressing opinions shared by the west,” Tichreen wrote adding “and his actions point at his deep interests in politicizing the UN investigation.”

Al Baath pointed its guns at the Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, asking him whether "he forgot his dad’s words about preserving Syrian-Lebanese relations", while Al Thawara added “none of the political and media crews, whose motives are now clear, can accuse Syria or any official there with the Hariri assassination crime, because the statements of one conniving army deserter are but a pack of proven lies.”

The reference Tichreen made was to a testimony by Mohamad Zuheir Siddiq, which had reportedly led to the apprehension of four security officers now awaiting prosecution in Lebanon. Tichreen added, “The time has come for the Hariri media apparatus to realize the far-reaching meanings behind the crime and refrain from serving foreign interests who want to harm Lebanon’s interests.” “Those out there with the distorted views and twisted tongues should be prosecuted,” Al Thawra Syrian daily also wrote.

Al Baath joined in with a claim that “Hariri has started to escalate a campaign aimed at targeting President Emile Lahoud and at inviting foreign tutelage through the implementation of UN 1559.” The Syrian daily quoted diplomatic sources as saying “there is no need to underscore the dangerous repercussions associated with UN 1559, especially when the Lebanese government is unable to uphold security matters...”

For his part, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji AL Otari told Qatari newspaper “AL Sharq” on Tuesday that  Syria “will open the gates of hell” should the US decide to take military action against it. “The US are exerting economic pressures on Syria, but it is not to their advantage to open a military front with us,” adding “in their effort to isolate Syria from all directions, it began to sow discord in Lebanon, where there are only two rulers today, the US and French ambassadors...”

Speaker Nabih Berri again showed his true colors, announcing from Qatar at the tail end of an official trip “there is absolutely no more Syrian interference in Lebanon while on other hand there are other outside efforts at meddling.” “My information tells me that our brothers in Syria are keen on finding out and exposing the truth, and I assure that whomever is involved, whether a Lebanese or a foreigner, they should face a court of law.”

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that if the UN report implicates officials in top government posts “then this would be a dangerous thing and I expect Syria to take appropriate action.”

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