Syria's reaction to UN fact-finding mission's report
Syria-UN, Politics, 3/31/2005

Syria on Tuesday sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Chairmen of the Security Council and the General Assembly commenting on the UN fact-finding mission's report on the assassination of Former Lebanese Premier Rafic Hariri.

The letter said the report talked in length about the political and psychological situation that preceded the heinous crime of assassinating Hariri, thereby making the findings of this report far from objective and showing somehow a sort of solidarity with one Lebanese party while neglecting the viewpoints of the other.

"The Feb. 14th explosion was exploited to serve the viewpoint of one Lebanese party who aimed at launching coup d'etat regardless of the importance of coexistence, maintaining civic peace and the national accord among the Lebanese which Hariri himself believed in." The letter said the report dropped the historical, geographic, political and social cohesion between the Lebanese and the Syrian people.

"Despite the fact that the report was not expected to refer to Syria's positive role in building the civic peace in Lebanon and ending the civil war across the country, it is strange to ascribe the political tension that emerged a few months before the assassination of Hariri to Syria," it added.

It also pointed out that the political tension was clear since June 2004 when the idea of taking the Lebanese issue to the UN Security Council was raised, asserting that the UN resolution 1559 increased tension and caused sharp divisions in Lebanon leading to economic, security and political paralysis in and outside Beirut.

The letter recalled that the civil war and the Israeli occupation of great parts of the Lebanese lands had necessitated a state of military and security cooperation as well as political coordination between Syria and Lebanon against all challenges.

"This cooperation concentrated on maintaining civic peace in Lebanon had emerged from the national accord and the Taif Agreement, a thing that enabled Syria to decrease its troops to 10,000 from 40,000 in addition to future full withdrawals of these forces before the forthcoming Lebanese elections," it added.

The letter said the UN report neglected the long-term cordial relations between the Syrian leadership and Premier Hariri, pointing out that it also dropped Hariri's participation in the achievement of the Taif Accord and his commitment to Syrian-Lebanese strategic relations.

"Revision of Hariri's latest statement before being assassinated confirm keenness on continuing personal and political relations with the Syrian leadership," it noted, adding that Hariri, before his assassination, had made many phone calls with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister to arrange for a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad.

"Syria was astonished over the hint incorporated in the report on alleged improper dialogue held between President al-Assad and late Premier Hariri ... This hint is totally unacceptable because it is unfounded and lacks credible concrete evidence." Syria concluded by particularly demanding the omission of this hint on President al-Assad in person out of Syria's keenness on the UN credibility. "Syria sees that this hint is an unwarranted insertion in any report presented to the Security Council." The letter added that Syria, one of the sides affected by the loss of Hariri, stresses the importance of revealing who was behind this heinous crime against Hariri and define the beneficiary parties as soon as possible. Syria supports the stances of Lebanon regarding this issue as it is more keen than the others on Lebanon's sovereignty, prosperity and independence.

Previous Stories:
  Annan demands Syria to schedule withdrawal; Sfeir denies asking US to dismantle Hizbullah   (3/23/2005)
  Syria proceeds implementation of Association Agreement with EU   (3/16/2005)
  Pressure on Syria to leave Lebanon   (3/12/2005)

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