WASHINGTON - The Netherlands would welcome an international trial at The Hague to prosecute suspects in the alleged murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said Monday.

Bot, who spoke in Washington after the conclusion of a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said their talks touched on the alleged role played by Syria in Hariri's February assassination.

"We discussed Syria because we feel that with all the revelations coming out about involvment of high officials in the murder of Hariri, something should be done about it," Bot said.

He said the Dutch government "share(s) the feeling of the US that the culprits should be brought to justice."

If the accused are extradited, he said a trial could be held in the Netherlands at The Hague's international court.

"If there is an extradition, we are obliged," he said, but added: "They can only do their work if the suspects are extradited."

Hariri's son Saad, majority leader in the Lebanese parliament, has called for an international court to take up the case.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to confirm whether Bot and Rice discussed the possibility of an international trial in The Hague.

"Well, I think at this point, what we are concerned with is that the Lebanese people and the international community have confidence that, whatever the results and whatever the findings of this report, wherever it may lead, that those responsible for this assassination are held to account," McCormack said.

"Now, I think it's too early to talk about what form that may take," he said.

"What I will say is they did discuss the issue of ultimately those responsible for this act must face justice in some kind of judicial procedure," the spokesman added.

A State Department official, who asked to remain anonymous, said "whatever the mechanism is, it needs to have a very heavy Leabanese component to it."

The Lebanese will need international help, however, since Lebanon's institutions have been dominated by Syria for so many years, the official added.

Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April after a 29-year presence. The pullout came after a UN resolution calling for the withdrawal and amid an international and domestic uproar following Hariri's killing.

German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who led the UN investigation into Hariri's murder, will brief the UN Security Council on Tuesday. His report released last week alleged that there was "converging evidence of both Syrian and Lebanese involvement" in Hariri's assassination.

Damascus has denied any role in the February bomb blast that killed Hariri and 20 others on the Beirut seafront, rejecting the probe's findings as politically biased, incomplete and "a big lie."

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