The chief U.N. investigator into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Friday the search for the killers will continue despite his stepping down next week.

Detlev Mehlis said Lebanon is in better shape and more secure than when the inquiry started in June, and rejected a Syrian allegation that the interim findings of his commission were politicized.

"The most important thing is that the victims (families) are happy with the investigation," Mehlis said of the hunt for those responsible for the massive truck bomb that killed Hariri and 20 other people in central Beirut on Feb. 14. "They think it is being done in a fair way, and I haven't heard a bad word from their part."

Mehlis was speaking at a farewell luncheon hosted by Lebanon's justice minister. Next week he returns to his former job as a senior prosecutor in Berlin.

Lebanon has asked the United Nations to extend the commission for six months after its mandate expires Dec. 15.

"The good news is that if the Security Council agrees next week, the commission will continue ... practically all of the (U.N.) investigators will stay, so the investigation will carry on," Mehlis said.

He said there would be a transitional period until a new successor has been appointed and whom he would brief.

"I will not leave this investigation to itself," Mehlis said.

Mehlis' first interim report in October implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Hariri's assassination. Lebanon praised the report, but Syria rejected it as "politicized" and unfounded on evidence.

Mehlis is to submit a second interim report to the U.N. Security Council next week.

Earlier this week, members of the Mehlis commission questioned five senior Syrian officials at the U.N. headquarters in Vienna.

Syria, which has denied involvement in Hariri's killing, has been waging a campaign to discredit the commission. This month Syrian state TV repeatedly broadcast interviews with a Syrian witness, Husam Taher Husam, who recanted his testimony to the commission and said he had been bribed to frame Syria.

Mehlis said Friday the criticism of the commission was "very much within limits." Previously he had accused Syria of trying to obstruct the probe.

"I am very happy to leave Lebanon in a much better shape than I found it when I came here," he said.

"I also think, this is my personal assessment, the security situation in Lebanon has improved considerably within this past seven months. And maybe we contributed a very small part to it," he said, predicting "better times" ahead.

Lebanon has suffered a series of mysterious bombings since Hariri's assassination. The attacks often targeted journalists and politicians known to be opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon.

Many Lebanese blamed Syria for the killing of Hariri, who was seen as a quiet opponent of Syria's dominance of the country. The assassination provoked mass demonstrations against Syria which, combined with international pressure, forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon at the end of April, ending a 29-year presence in its western neighbor. (Agencies)

Copyright © 1999-2005 Lebanonwire^®.com. All rights reserved.