Damascus rejects al-Assad meet UN investigators

Syria has officially rejected the request of the UN investigator committee into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri to meet with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, information minister Mahdi Dakhlalluah said.

Several days ago, al-Assad said he enjoys immunity that authorizes him to reject the request of the committee.

In the framework of the efforts to settle the Syrian- Lebanese crisis over the Hariri probe, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is holding talks today with Lebanon's Prime minister Fouad Siniora.

Egyptian official sources said that Mubarak will discuss with Siniora the efforts made by Egypt and Saudi Arabia in order to bridge the rift in the relations between the two states, resulted from the assassination of Hariri in February and the consequences of this killing.

Siniora's visit to Cairo comes four days after a similar visit held by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to each of Egypt and Saudi Arabia in order to discuss means of removing pressure off his Syria, after the UN investigation committee accused senior Syrian officials of involvement in the assassination of Hariri.

The Saudi and Egyptian efforts are being greatly rejected by the Lebanese opposition groups, especially the Druze leaders Walid Junblat who announced on Wednesday rejection to join international programs or solidarity at the expense of what he called sovereignty or independence.