Bush asks urgent move against Syria on Hariri assassination

The USA has started intensive effort to escalate pressures on Syria and Lebanon following the announcement of the report of the UN International Investigation Committee on the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

In this regard, the US President George W. Bush called for convening an urgent session for the UN Security Council and described the report of the investigation committee as worrying. He said that the international community should move strongly and seriously against Syria.

Bush also told journalists that he had asked his secretary of state Condaleezza Rice to call for convening this session, noting that the report confirmed the Syrian involvement in the Hariri assassination.

Rice also said in statements on the sideline of her meeting with her British peer Jack Straw that the meeting of the UN Security Council next Tuesday will be a pivotal point for any American effort, adding that consultations continued with the French at certain levels concerning the next step that should be taken.

Straw, however, stressed in radio statements that the forthcoming session might consider imposing sanctions on Syria. "It is very disturbing, this report," Straw said. "It is further evidence of the extraordinary view that the Syrian elites have held for Lebanon, which is that they regard it as a subordinate territory and not as an independent state."

That "arrogance" appears to have led to "people very close to the top of the Syrian regime" being implicated in Hariri's murder, he added. Straw said the issue is "one that the international community is going to take very seriously, indeed."

Asked what form a prosecution might take, Rice said there have been "numerous meetings and discussions about what kind of mechanism might be used to bring people to justice."

While "there are, of course, limitations for the Lebanese," the secretary said, "the Lebanese have to be also very much involved in this process, even in the lead." The specific mechanism will require further discussions, she added.

There is time to consider this aspect because "Mehlis has made clear that he needs more time to fully pursue this investigation," suggesting that "this is going to continue, at least until December 15th," she said.

Earlier, France and the USA disclosed a joint draft resolution expected to be submitted to the Security Council in a move described to be the strongest yet against Syria.

For his part, the Russian foreign minister Sergy Lavrov said that his country desires "the victory of justice in the issue of assassinating Hariri," stressing the need of settling this problem in a way not to destabilize regional security.