Lebanonwire.com | Damascus says UN Hariri probe seeks to 'encircle Syria'

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December 4, 2005

Damascus says UN Hariri probe seeks to 'encircle Syria'

DAMASCUS, Syria - Damascus on Sunday slammed the UN probe into the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri for trying to "encircle Syria", a day before top Syrian officials are due to be questioned in Vienna.

"The enquiries currently underway are not trying to find the truth but are taking place to encircle Syria and damage its national and patriotic positions," Justice Minister Mohammed Ghafri said, quoted by the state news agency SANA.

The probe, headed by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, is due to begin questioning five unidentified senior Syrian witnesses at UN offices in Vienna on Monday after weeks of wrangling over a location for the interrogations.

"The enquiry should be based on tangible evidence in order to reach the truth that all sides want," Ghafri added.

An interim report issued by Mehlis in October implicated top Syrian officials over the February assassination of Hariri in a bomb blast in Beirut. It also criticised Syria for failing to cooperate fully with the investigation.

"Syria will continue to cooperate with the international commission of enquiry even if its structure is modified," Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah was quoted as saying by the official Al-Baath newspaper.

"But to reach the truth, it is necessary for the enquiry to happen in a professional manner far from political pressures exerted by Lebanese parties," he added.

"The testimony of Syrian witness Hussam Hussam has called into question essential points of the report," he said, referring to Mehlis's October report.

"Following the uncovering of this witness, we would like the enquiry to take place far from political pressures," said Dakhlallah. Former intelligence agent Hussam last week retracted testimony he gave to the UN probe implicating top Syrian officials. He was quoted seven times in the probe's interim report.

He said on Syrian state television that he had testified against the brother and brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad only under duress and had been offered large bribes.

Mehlis is scheduled to submit his final report to the UN Security Council on December 15, although his mandate runs up to the end of the year.