Syria and a Palestinian militant group have denied accusations in a UN report that they were involved in the killing of ex-Lebanon leader Rafik al-Hariri.

UN investigators last night released a report which implicated high-ranking Syrian officials in the assassination of the former prime minister.

Mr Hariri died when a massive bomb exploded as he made his way in a motor cavalcade along Beirut's seafront last February.

But Syria's information minister said the report was politically motivated and untrue.

"It seems the report is completely political and a political statement directed towards Syria," Mahdi Dakhl-Allah told Al Jazeera television, in the first comment by a Syrian minister on the findings.

"The report is far from the truth. It was not professional and will not arrive at the truth but will be part of a deception and great tension in this region," he said.

"The report and these accusations are dangerous and will have huge political impact," he added.

The UN report also implicated Syria's Lebanese allies and cast suspicion on Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

The brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Maj Gen Asef Shawkat, could have figured in the plot, investigators added.

The suggest he sett up known militant Ahmed Abu Adass as a decoy by forcing him to tape a video claiming responsibility for the murder weeks before it took place.

The report said the Syrian authorities, after initially hesitating to help, had cooperated "to a limited degree". But several individuals had tried to mislead investigators "by giving false or inaccurate statements," it said.

A pro-Syrian Palestinian leader also rejected accusations that his militant group played a role in the killing.

Ahmed Jibril, head of the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), said: "We completely reject the implication of any of our factions in this case."

"We say we were surprised with the ... report, which tried to implicate some of our factions by saying they gave some support to Lebanese security leaders," he told Al Arabiya television.

The UN report said people from Jibril's group in Lebanon coordinated with Lebanese and Syrian security officials in their preparations for the truck bombing that killed Mr Hariri and 20 others in Beirut.

"The Front is allied with Syria because Syria supports the Palestinian people and their cause," he said. "We are ready today to present to the investigative committee and Lebanese judiciary whoever it calls."