BEIRUT: The UN probe chief investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri made a last round of meetings with officials in Beirut on Tuesday before heading to New York, where he is soon to present his second report on the murder to the UN Security Council. Brammertz's meetings came as UN special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen continued his own round of talks with regional leaders. Roed-Larsen is in Abu Dhabi meeting with the leadership there as part of a regional tour to find a solution to the Lebanese-Syrian crisis. He has already visited Saudi Arabia and Egypt.After a meeting with Brammertz at the Foreign Ministry, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said: "No official in Lebanon or elsewhere knows anything about the content of the report, and we all have to wait until it is actually published before making any comments about it."
As the June 15 deadline for the report approaches, US and Syrian officials have been airing their respective expectations on its contents. Brammertz's first report avoided implicating Syria, unlike two previous reports by his predecessor, Detlev Mehlis. As has become his habit, Brammertz remained tight-lipped and refused to talk to the media, expressing irritation at their presence and preventing them from taking photos of the meeting at the ministry.
Salloukh said the chief investigator was expected to hand in the report to Secretary General Kofi Annan on June 10 or 11, and "it is not clear if it will be the last report of its kind." "Brammertz is studying the possibility of staying as head of the commission, since the government had officially asked for a term extension until the investigation is completely and thoroughly done," said Salloukh.