 As international calls for Syria to cooperate "more fully" with the UN probe into the murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri intensifed on Wednesday from French President Jacques Chirac, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Saudi King Abdullah, Syria confirmed it had agreed to the probe's request to interview its Foreign Minister Farouq al-Sharaa.
"Syria must answer the demands" of the international inquiry into Hariri's killing, Chirac was quoted by a spokesman as saying during talks with his visiting Egyptian counterpart Mubarak on Wednesday over the Syrian issue. The latest UN commission demands include requests to interview Syrian President Bashar Assad and Sharaa, and Syria was given a 10-day deadline, ending on January 10, to respond. Syria, as it undergoes greater international pressure, agreed to an interview with Sharaa, while the request for an interview with Assad is expected to be more difficult, given that an earlier request in July to interview him was refused, stated diplomats close to the case. "The request is being considered while other capitals are in contact with Syria on the same subject," a diplomatic source said. "As announced before there is no objection that the committee meets Sharaa. That position did not change." |