On the Syrian acceptance of Vienna as venue for Hariri investigation interrogation

The decision provided for Syria's acceptance of the city of Vienna as a venue for questioning five Syrian officialsin relation to the murder of the Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri came after Lebanese political sources said that Deltev Mehlis, the UN investigator, gave Syria a final grace period that expired on yesterday.

This deadline was in order to have a reply to his suggestion to interrogate the Syrian officials in Vienna or in Geneva, after Mehlis had refused a proposal to carry out the interrogation at the headquarters of UNDOF in the occupied Syrian Golan heights.

The sources stressed that the UN investigator threatened to bring the file once again to the UN Security Council if Syria will not approve his proposal, and if Syria persists in its demand for a cooperation protocol agreement with the committee before permitting it to carry out its interrogations.

A UN Security Council resolution issued on October 31st demanded Syria to fully cooperate with the UN investigation otherwise it faces measures that might include sanctions on Damascus.