UN Security Council discusses an international investigation on the assassination of Hariri
Lebanon-UN, Politics, 4/1/2005

The UN Security Council at the experts level started consultations to study the draft project supported by Washington, Paris and London to form an international committee to reconsider the implications of the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri.

News reports in New York said that the draft resolution will be submitted to the UN Security Council within the two next days, but voting for it might not be before the beginning of next week.

Meantime, a UN Security Council draft resolution on the assassination of Hariri called on the Lebanese authorities to cooperate fully with the investigation committee which will be formed by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan to investigate in the "terrorist act," and to permit the committee to collect evidences and information as well as hand over sides involved in the assassination operation, and to have access to all establishments and positions and meeting with officials the committee considers linked to the investigation.

However, the draft resolution avoids mentioning Syria by name, and confined to calling on all "governments for cooperation with the investigation committee which will work for honoring Lebanon's sovereignty, in what seemed as a care to accelerate the process of having the document endorsed at the UN Security Council.

The beginning of consultations with the UN Security Council started with the denial of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to have had his country allowed the atmosphere which led to the assassination of Hariri, as stated in the UN facts finding commission report which was chaired by Peter FitzGerald.

Al-Assad said in an Austrian weekly published yesterday that the assassination of Hariri is not good for Syria, Lebanon or any other Arab state, considering that Lebanon's security is that of Syria.

President al-Assad questioned how could Syria pave for the assassination of Hariri at a time when the criminals have not been identified yet. He expressed his hope for a criminal and technical investigation instead of reports which he described as of a political nature.

Previous Stories:
  Lebanese parties rebuff foreign interference   (3/31/2005)
  Chinese ambassador: Syria-Lebanon relation is internal affair   (3/31/2005)
  Russia commends Syrian- Lebanese cooperation   (3/31/2005)
  Lebanese envoy to the UN Security Council   (3/28/2005)
  Lebanese interior minister and the UN Fact-Finding Mission   (3/26/2005)
  Lebanese government: UN fact finding report commission on Hariri assassination not based on evidence   (3/26/2005)

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