Al-Assad: security in Lebanon was not Syria's task

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad considered that the UN report on the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri is "a political report based on views rather than evidence."

He questioned "how can they conclude that Syria is responsible for this act without knowing who is the criminal?" President al-Assad said in a meeting with foreign correspondents in Damascus. The Spanish Almondo paper quoted excerpts from it that the UN report should be "a judicial report, but we have discovered upon reading it that it is in reality a political report based on views more than evidence." He added that the report also says that Syria is responsible for tension in Lebanon and that this tension resulted in the assassination operation.

Al-Assad questioned "how it came they knew about the intention of the crime without knowing who the criminal is. First the one behind the assassination should be known. How did they conclude that Syria is behind this act. It is an unexplained nor understood matter."

The Syrian president, according to the paper, categorically denied that security in Lebanon is one of the mission of the Syrian presence in it, noting that the mission of the Syrian soldiers was to let the Lebanese live in peace and help the security forces and the army in Lebanon to establish peace. He said "security in Lebanon has not been one of the mission assigned to Syria."

The Syrian President also denied that there is a certain schedule for the final withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Lebanon, noting that the matter (withdrawal) will take months, after the Syrian- Lebanese military committee will draw a time table for the final withdrawal.