Al-Osboo: Al-Assad refuses to meet UN investigators, denies threatening Hariri
Syria-Lebanon-UN, Politics, 1/7/2006

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad refused to be brought before the UN investigation committee, denying an accusation by his former vice president Abdul Halim Khaddam on that al-Assad had threatened Rafiq Hariri prior to the former Lebanese prime minister's assassination, according to the Egyptian newspaper al-Osboo issued on Friday.

The statements to Egypt's al-Osboo newspaper, al-Assad issued his first response to his former vice president's accusation, where Khaddam said Al-Assad threatened Hariri. Al-Assad has previously denied the same accusation when raised by other sides.

In the interview, Al-Assad accused the now Paris-based Khaddam of scheming against Syria before resigning in June, and also hinted that, as president of Syria, he would be immune from questioning by a team investigating Hariri's February assassination.

Asked about Khaddam's accusation that he threatened Hariri, al-Assad said "This incident did not happen. The aim of spreading these allegations is to link the threat to the assassination. The game is clear."

"I wish to say here that no one joined us in the last meeting between me and Hariri, so where did these allegations come from?" He said in an advance copy of the interview, sent to Reuters before publication in Al-Osbo's Monday edition.

The UN team probing the February killing of Hariri has requested to meet al-Assad and Foreign Minister Farouq al-Sharaa. Diplomats said on Wednesday Syria had agreed to let Sharaa be questioned and was considering its position over al-Assad.

Al-Assad said Syria had previously voiced readiness to cooperate with the probe if the request had a "legal basis."

"This is not the first request. There was a previous request, when the committee proposed to come to Syria at the end of last summer to listen to Syrian witnesses, as they call them. At that time, they requested to meet with President Bashar, and the president of the republic has international immunity," he said in the interview with El-Osbo's chief editor Mustafa Bakry.

On that earlier occasion, he said Syria had invited the committee "to visit Damascus and to sign a protocol... to outline the mechanism for dealing with Syria at all levels."

When asked whether Khaddam was working against Syria before he left office, al-Assad told al-Osbo "In my view, he was involved with the plan before, and he was a main player in it, but we don't have specific details until now."

Al-Assad said in reaction to another question on Syria's condition to return to the table of negotiations with Israel, "when Israel becomes interested actually in peace making, and when the American interests in the peace process comes, peace is an expression of confidence rather than an agreement signed between two sides."

Al-Assad talked about the Egyptian- Syrian relations and said "they are deeply rooted, and relations between President Hosni Mubarak and the late Hafez al-Assad was very peculiar." He added that relations between him and President Mubarak are frank. But "when we talk, we talk frankly. I tell him of my thinking and he tells me what he thinks of, we might be different, but the result is we always reach a common understanding."

Al-Assad stressed that President Mubarak is has great concern for Syria, and that his international tours and contacts pour for the interest of Syria" and that "he moves at all levels without an announcement and when we meet, he gives me the details of the contacts," noting that Mubarak "knows since the days of President Hafez al-Assad what Syria wants."

Replying to a question on the official reaction expected if any aggression occurs against Syria, al-Assad stressed "Egypt will not stand hand tightened because Egypt knows its security is inseparable from Syria's security."

Previous Stories:
  An-Nahar: Khaddam give testimony to UN investigators   (1/7/2006)
  Financial Times: Muslim Brotherhood leader supports Syrian defector, Khaddam   (1/7/2006)
  Syrian opposition distance itself from Khaddam   (1/7/2006)
  Damascus agrees Sharaa to be interrogated by UN committee   (1/5/2006)
  Annan urges Syria cooperate with investigation Commission   (1/4/2006)
  Damascus confirms receiving UN request to question al-Assad   (1/4/2006)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search