UN considers expansion of Hariri probe
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-14 16:15

Syria still is not fully cooperating with a probe into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, and investigators would need two more years at this rate, the chief of the inquiry told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.

Detlev Mehlis acknowledged that Syria had permitted five high-ranking officials to be interviewed in Vienna, and he later said it was too early to say if Syria was in violation of a Security Council resolution that threatened "further action" unless Syria cooperates.

"It remains to be seen whether the Syrian cooperation will be in full and without any conditions," Mehlis told the council as he presented his latest progress report on the probe. He later added: "We definitely are not seeing full cooperation because that would be cooperation in a timely manner."

Mehlis' statements apparently did not persuade diplomats on the 15-nation council to seek sanctions against Damascus.

Instead, the council was considering two Lebanese requests: to widen the probe into former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's death to include other political killings; and to form an international tribunal that would try suspects in his death.

The killing of Hariri, a leading anti-Syrian politician, sent shock waves through Lebanon, which has been under Syrian political and military control for decades. His death sparked street protests that prompted the Syrian military to withdraw from Lebanon in April.

Since then, the region has been thrown into renewed turmoil by a string of similar car bombings and assassinations. On Monday, a leading anti-Syrian journalist and lawmaker, Gibran Tueni, was killed by a car bomb outside Beirut.

But after hearing Mehlis' briefing, the council was sharply divided. Some, like Britain and France, expressed a general willingness, while others, including Algeria, were more cautious.

"Some support it. Some said we need to study it further and some kept silent," Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Baali said.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, one of Syria's toughest critics, said U.S. officials were still considering how best to ensure that Syria cooperates with the probe. He did not rule out sanctions, but he did not focus on them.

"The government of Syria responds unfortunately only to pressure, at least that's our experience to date, so we are considering what additional pressure we will bring to bear," Bolton said.

France circulated a draft resolution late Tuesday that would extend Mehlis' probe, which had been scheduled to end Dec. 15, by another six months as he has requested.

The draft would broaden the probe's scope so it has the option of investigating the "terrorist attacks perpetrated in Lebanon since 1 October 2004." At the same time, the document would largely put off the issue of the international tribunal, requesting only that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan work with Lebanon on the issue and report back.

Mehlis' latest report said new evidence strengthened his belief that the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services had a hand in Hariri's assassination Feb. 14 in Beirut. It said there were 19 suspects so far, including six high-ranking Syrian officials.

The council may be wary of causing further unrest in both Lebanon and Syria if the investigation expands to include the slaying of Tueni and others. The call for U.N. help during the Cabinet meeting sparked a walkout by five Lebanese ministers representing pro-Syrian Hezbollah and Amal groups.

Baali, the Algerian ambassador, said one fear was that U.N. investigators could be asked to probe other assassinations in the future, and the council was wary of such an open-ended commitment.

Tueni's slaying drew a sharp rebuke from Walid Jumblatt, a prominent anti-Syrian politician who called for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to be changed.

"This time this regime should change (and) should be tried," Jumblatt told CNN in the first such call by a prominent Lebanese politician.

But Jumblatt later appeared to tone down his remarks, telling Lebanon's LBC television that "I do not interfere in the affairs of that regime. The (Syrian) people and the active forces there decides."

In memory of the outspoken anti-Syrian critic, Lebanese schools and universities closed Tuesday and radio stations played classical music and television channels broadcast long tributes.

President Bush said Tueni's murder was "aimed at subjugating Lebanon to Syrian domination."

Syria has denied involvement in Tueni's slaying, as it has in Hariri's.

In October, Mehlis' team released findings that implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Hariri's slaying and said greater Syrian cooperation was needed.

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Feyssal Mekdad again insisted that Syria was cooperating fully and has "given to the committee whatever it wants."

Four Lebanese generals have been arrested in the probe along with another suspect in France.