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October 18, 2005

Lebanonwire

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Mehlis report takes center stage in Paris talks

BEIRUT, Lebanon, October 18 (Lebanonwire) -- Prime Minister Fouad Siniora will spend the coming few days in Paris evaluating the repercussions of the findings of UN 1595 that UN team leader of the murder probe into the late Premier Rafik Hariri, Detlev Mehlis will submit this October 21st, Al Mustaqbal daily said Tuesday.

The daily said all eyes would rest on the report's results, as it takes center stage locally and internationally.

But first, Siniora held a meeting Monday with UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje-Roed Larsen in Paris, where the latter confirmed he would submit his UN Security Resolution 1995 report on Wednesday, updating the international body of the implementation progress with regard to disarming all militia groups in Lebanon and the full withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon.

Siniora also discussed how France could help Lebanon in pushing the UN to accept the country’s formal request to extend the probe to December 15 of this year, following a meeting with French Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Douste-Blazy who said “UN 1595 holds a special interest to France and is a priority for us in our attempt to find the Hariri murderers.”

“Lebanon is a sovereign state that should not be influenced or under the tutelage of Syria anymore, and we stand in support of Lebanon and will help it deal with all aspects of this investigation,” Douste-Blazy said.

Siniora for his part pointed to France’s technical expertise assistance to Lebanon and the need for Lebanese to conduct a serious internal dialogue on the implementation of UN 1559, in reference to Hezbollah’s weapons and the armed Palestinian factions in the country.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan meanwhile said Monday he would first wait to see the results of the UN 1595 Hariri probe before deciding whether to extend its mandate to next December. “I know the report is believed to be politicized, but I will make sure it is purely technical in nature, i.e. based on facts and not assumptions,” Annan said.

Annan said that the death of Interior Syrian Minister Ghazi Kanaan who reportedly killed himself last week, was not given serious discussion as to whether it should be included in UN 1595.

Reuters meanwhile quoted unnamed Lebanese diplomats and politicians as saying that the report “will implicate high ranking Syrian officials, but it is unclear whether Syrian President Assad is one of them.”

Meanwhile, French police arrested a former Syrian intelligence officer accused of lying to UN investigators probing the Hariri murder.

Mohammed Zuhair Al-Siddiq was taken into custody Sunday in the Paris suburb of Chatou by France's counterespionage service, police in France said. He was the subject of an international arrest warrant and is expected to be extradited within 30 days to Beirut.

The arrest warrant, issued by Lebanese Magistrate Elias Eid, accused Al-Siddiq of giving phony testimony.

Al-Siddiq claimed he took part in a meeting of Lebanese security officials who drew up a plan to kill Hariri. The four security officers are now in custody. Al-Siddiq also told investigators he was at the crime scene before and after the massive bombing that targeted Hariri's motorcade.

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