DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A U.N. committee probing the slaying of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has requested permission from Syria to question senior security officials. Saudi daily newspaper al-Hayat Monday quoted Syrian sources as saying that chief international investigator Detlev Mehlis of Germany forwarded questions to at least three officials, including Brig. Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh, who was head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon at the time of Hariri's assassination Feb. 14. The sources said the Syrian government received a series of questions last week regarding Hariri's assassination and is ready to answer them.
"Syria wants an honest and transparent investigation into Hariri's killing, and we are not scared but we fear the issue might be manipulated politically to hold us responsible without providing evidence," the sources said. They denied that any direct contact took place between the international investigators and the Syrian officials.
In Beirut, Lebanon, U.N. spokesman Najib Friji told UPI that the international investigators asked for Syrian cooperation and to be able to interrogate certain Syrian officials. Friji denied forwarding questions in the letter. Other U.N. sources said the international investigators insist on direct interrogation, while Syria prefers interrogation by proxy, notably by correspondence. |