Daoudi regrets that Mehlis report points out to syria

Legal Counselor at the Syrian Foreign Ministry, Riad al-Daoudi, said it is regrettable that the report of UN investigator Detlev Mehlis claimed that Syria did not cooperate with the international investigation committee into the killing of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq al-Hariri.

Daoudi said in an interview broadcast by the Syrian television Sunday evening that "this reference to Syria could be dropped by the committee but it seemed that things took another course."

He added that there is a decision by the Syrian government to cooperate with the international committee of investigation which presented questions to a number of Syrian officials.

He indicated that "Mr. Mehlis was asked to set a date for a meeting as of 17 this month, several days before submitting the report to the UN security Council on 25 August."

"But Mr. Mehlis said at the time that he was about to travel and he was happy with the cooperation of the Syrian government...so he knew since then that the Syrian government was ready to cooperate to the maximum extent...and had he set a date before the issuing of the report then this reference to Syria could have been dropped."

Daoudi indicated that "Mr. Mehlis postponed the date to another time, and asked to be set on 25 or 26 or 27 August...we asked the date to be set on 25 August but Mehlis, because of his other engagements, decided that the meeting be held on 26 August...after the report had been presented to the Security Council." Daoudi concluded that "the reference in this report which said that Syria didn't cooperate has no longer been matched up to the new realities, namely Syria's cooperation and the handing over of the answers to questions presented by Mehlis to a number of Syrian officials."