Syria protests over ex-UN probe chief's charges

Syria protested over comments by the former head of the UN probe into the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri for accusing Damascus of bearing responsibility.

German magistrate Detlev Mehlis, who was replaced last week by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, said in a newspaper interview in December that the Syrian authorities "are responsible" for the February 2005 killing.

Damascus has sent an official letter of protest to the United Nations calling for UN chief Kofi Annan to take action.

"It is unacceptable that Mr Mehlis used the media during his last days in office as a means of pressure and to express a deep hatred against Syria," it said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP on Thursday.

The letter was made public as Brammertz was expected in Lebanon on his first visit since taking over at the head of the commission on January 11.

A number of top Syrian officials have been interviewed in Vienna by UN investigators following an interim report which implicated Damascus in Hariri's killing and the commission also wants to question President Bashar al-Assad.

In the interview in question in December, Mehlis replied "yes" when asked by the Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat if he was "perfectly convinced of Syria's responsibility in the murder of Hariri."

"The Syrian authorities are responsible," he said, but refused to go into details.