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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| UN investigation team back in Lebanon |
| 2005-11-01 |
| BEIRUT - The UN team investigating the February murder of five-time Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was back in Beirut on Tuesday one day after the UN Security Council unanimously demanded better cooperation from neighbouring Syria with the investigation. UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis was back at work in Beirut after flying into the city on Monday evening as the resolution was being passed in New York, Lebanese security sources said on condition of anonymity. âHis arrival took place under heavy security measures and secrecy,â the sources said. The UN resolution said Syria had provided only a âlimited degreeâ of cooperation or tried to mislead or provide âfalse and inaccurateâ information to a UN investigative panel led by German prosecutor Mehlis. âAt this important time, the UN is holding Syria accountable for any further failure to cooperate with the commission,â US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. She warned of âclose linksâ between Syrian cooperation and further UN action. The resolution ordered governments to impose travel bans and freeze the assets of any Lebanese and Syrian officials or other people to be declared suspects in the killing. Mehlis and the Lebanese government are expected to provide the names of suspects to a UN panel which can order the sanctions. The resolution was adopted under the UN Charterâs Chapter 7, which allows the use of force, even though the text was watered down in order to gain the unanimous support of council members. Before the vote, earlier references to an economic embargo against Syria and a demand for Damascus to renounce terrorism were dropped from the text. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora welcomed the new resolution, saying, âI hope our Syrian brothers will now match words with deeds and cooperate fully with the international inquiry.â He expressed âsatisfactionâ with the resolution even though it had been watered down from earlier drafts circulated by Britain, France and the United States, saying it would help the inquiry. He also raised the possibility that the commissionâs mandate might be extended beyond its current December 15 expiry date âif the Lebanese government requests itâ. |
| Posted by:Steve |