VIENNA - United Nations, Austrian and Syrian officials remained tight-lipped here Wednesday about exactly when five Syrians would be questioned by a UN team investigating the assassination of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

When asked to shed light on when the five would arrive in the Austrian capital, where they had been expected on Tuesday, officials at the UN's Vienna headquarters, the Austrian interior ministry and the Syrian embassy declined to comment.

The five, who are due to testify before a UN commission of enquiry headed by Detlev Mehlis, have not been identified.

On Tuesday, Damascus again insisted it had played no role in Hariri's murder and described Mehlis's report, which blamed the Syrian government, as "faulty."

It noted that former Syrian intelligence agent Hassam Taher Hassam, whom the UN enquiry panel quoted seven times in its interim report in formulating the accusations against Syria, has now recanted his testimony.

"This new information completely undermines the information leveled against Syria in the report" read a statement released by the Syrian embassy in Washington.

The statement nevertheless reaffirmed Damascus' pledge to cooperate with the Mehlis panel, as demanded in a UN Security Council resolution adopted on October 31, saying it was "of vital self-interest to Syria for the Commission to uncover the truth about this crime."

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