New UN investigator arrival draws mixed reaction in Syria. Lebanon
The spokeswoman for the UN investigation committee into the murder of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, Nasrat Hassan, confirmed the arrival to Beirut of the new chief of the committee, the Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz.
With the arrival of Brammertz, the United Nations new chief investigator mandated with investigating the assassination of Hariri, a broad cross section of Syrian society remains skeptical; many believe the UN inquiry, which has implicated senior Syrian officials in the killing, is being used as a political tool against Damascus.
The UN investigation is not free to find facts, said Abdul Aziz al-Kheri, a former political prisoner released last November after spending 13 years in jail for his activities as head of the Syrian opposition Communist Labor Party.
"Supposing the investigations results are not as the western states want, then I believe the commission will not be able to present those results," al-Kheri added.
Brammertz is taking over responsibility for the inquiry from German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who released two reports last year stating the decision to kill Hariri could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials.
The official reaction in Syria to the arrival of Brammertz has been relatively muted. In a recent editorial, state daily Al-Thawra said Syria was ready for full cooperation with the commission, but called on Brammertz to sign an agreement specifying the concept of cooperation. Talking about the future requires the avoidance of previous mistakes in assessing cooperation, the writer stated.
Resolution 1664, endorsed by the UN Security Council last year, threatens Syria with unspecified further action unless it cooperates unconditionally with the inquiry.
Skeptics say that three key witnesses who previously testified against Syrian officials have given false statements. Two of them were arrested, while the third fled to Syria.
Damascus, meanwhile, has refused a request by UN investigators to question Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
"Syria is committed to its independence and sovereignty," Syrian Information Minister Mehdi Dakhlallah told Egyptian Radio on January 12. This (interrogation of al-Assad) is a red line that cannot be crossed."
The UN request to question al-Assad followed statements by former Syrian vice president Abdel-Halim Khaddam, currently in exile in Paris. He said that the Syrian president had threatened Hariri on a number of occasions in advance of last February's assassination.
Khaddam later accused al-Assad of directly ordering the bombing that killed the Lebanese PM along with dozens of others.
In Beirut, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was quick to assert that his country would fully cooperate with the UN commission. Siniora has repeatedly said that the replacement of Mehlis as chief investigator would have no impact on the probe.